A/HRC/35/25/Add.2
undetermined and it cannot be legally challenged in courts. Despite its effects, the European
Court of Human Rights has determined it to be non-reviewable. 9 Greece was put under
considerable pressure to implement provisions from the statement well before its entry into
force and to apply maximum constraints on migrants, in order to achieve the objective of
returning most migrants to Turkey. Therefore, 13 out of the 202 migrants returned on
4 April 2016 may have been mistakenly returned, as their asylum claims had not been
registered.
Financial implications
32.
Greece has been allocated €294.6 million under the European Union Asylum,
Migration and Integration Fund and €214.8 million under the Internal Security Fund, for the
period 2014-2020. Additionally, €356.8 million was granted for emergency assistance,
whereas by mid-March 2017 €182 million was directly awarded to Greek authorities. 10
These budget allocations should fund reception centres on the islands, provide support for
return operations, or fund temporary deployment of additional Greek staff or European
Union Member States’ national experts.
33.
While the Special Rapporteur welcomes the support provided to Greece in order to
ensure appropriate reception conditions, and additional capacity to process the increased
number of asylum applications, he is concerned that the largest amount in terms of funding
is allocated to preventing irregular migration and implementing the European UnionTurkey statement, which also funds deportations and voluntary returns. The European
Union needs to ensure that the funded activities do not come at the expense of the human
rights of migrants identified for readmission.
2.
Rescue at sea
34.
Following strict securing of borders on the land route, the main entry points to
Greece are through sea routes.
35.
In December 2015, Frontex initiated the deployment of 293 officers and 15 vessels
to the Greek islands as part of a new operation named Poseidon Rapid Intervention,
following Greek requests for additional assistance. This replaces Operation Poseidon Sea,
and has a higher number of officers assisting with identifying and fingerprinting arriving
migrants. Furthermore, it aims to provide Greece with additional technical assistance in
order to strengthen its border surveillance, registration and identification capacity. At the
time of the visit, Frontex had deployed 734 personnel, which included the crew of 13
vessels and two helicopters supporting Greece in patrolling the Aegean islands.
36.
The Special Rapporteur was informed that the Hellenic Coast Guard focused on
detecting boats early, leading to a decreasing number of deaths of migrants at sea, and
resulting in the rescue of a considerable number of refugees and migrants under Operation
Poseidon Sea. Since the European Union-Turkey statement, arrivals have decreased
drastically, as a large number of the boats have been intercepted by Turkish coast guards in
Turkish waters.
37.
While the Special Rapporteur welcomes the renewal of sea operations, he insists that
the primary focus of such operations should be search and rescue and not combating
irregular migration.
38.
According to the information received, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
currently assists Greece and Frontex through real-time information, intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance operations in the Aegean Sea. The Special Rapporteur is
highly concerned over the deployment of military operations in the context of migration
9
10
6
NF, NG and NM v. European Council, Order of the General Court of the European Union (First
Chamber, Extended Composition), 28 February 2017.
European Commission, “Managing the refugee crisis: European Union financial support to Greece”,
15 March 2017, available from https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-wedo/policies/european-agenda-migration/background-information/20170321_factsheet_
managing_refugee_crisis_eu_financial_support_greece_-_update_en.pdf (accessed on 20 April 2017).