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News

Decisions handed down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg are
considered to be binding | Photo: P. Scheiber/imago
 * European Court of Justice
 * court ruling
 * pushback
 * Asylum application


SYRIAN ASYLUM SEEKER SUES FRONTEX OVER ILLEGAL REMOVAL FROM GREECE

Published on : 2021/10/22
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By Benjamin Bathke Published on : 2021/10/22

A Syrian family was deported to Turkey by Frontex in 2016 despite having lodged
asylum claims in Greece. Now, they have taken the EU border agency to the
European Court of Justice. The lawsuit could set a precedence.

On October 20, 2016, a family of Syrian asylum seekers was returned from Greece
to Turkey by plane although a decision on their asylum claim in Greece had not
been reached.

On Wednesday (October 20), exactly five years after they were deported, the
family filed a lawsuit against the EU border and coast guard agency Frontex at
the European Court of Justice (ECJ). It's the first such claim for damages
against Frontex at the ECJ. 

According to German news website tagesschau.de, the Syrian claimant Omar B. is
represented by Dutch human rights lawyer Lisa-Marie Komp. According to Komp, the
ECJ needs to deal with the question of "in what way Frontex is responsible for
human rights violations in the 'Joint Operations,' which the agency conducts
with personnel of EU member states."

At one such operation in 2016, Frontex officers are said to have assisted their
Greek colleagues in deporting Omar B., his wife and their four children. This
so-called pushback
Pushbacks refer to the practice of preventing people from seeking protection on
their territory by forcibly returning them to another country, generally
immediately after they crossed it. They are illegal as they violate
international law and human rights, including the principle of non-refoulement
and the right of migrants to claim asylum after they crossed a border.
is something hundreds of migrants and refugees experienced at the EU's external
border over the past few years. By now, the illegal practice is also
well-documented.

What makes this particular case special, Komp said, was the fact that everything
had been well-documented, including their asylum application shortly before
their deportation.

Read more: Greece accused of deliberately abandoning and pushing back migrants
at sea


FIRST RECORDED EXPULSION

According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the pushback was the first case
of asylum seekers being expelled following the landmark EU-Turkey deal
Agreed in March 2016 between EU states and the Turkish government, the EU-Turkey
deal was a response to the tens of thousands of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea
and arriving on the Greek Islands, or drowning in the attempt, in 2015.
According to the agreement, migrants who made the crossing to Greece would be
sent rapidly back to Turkey, where Syrian nationals receive temporary protection
status. A key aspect of the deal was a swap arrangement, whereby for every
Syrian who was "inadmissible" (not allowed to seek asylum in the EU) and forced
to go back to Turkey, one Syrian from Turkey would be allowed to come to Europe
to apply for asylum. However, in four years, a relatively small number has been
returned under the agreement.
from March 2016. The agreement explicitly stated that migrants arriving in EU
member state Greece have a right to a fair asylum procedure, reported The
Guardian.

The Greek migration minister at the time, Yiannis Mouzalas, told The Guardian he
had ordered an inquiry after it became clear that "violations" had occurred.

"An asylum request was lodged and it was evident the process had been violated
and something illegal had happened," Mouzalas told The Guardian, adding he
didn't learn about the inquiry's findings as he stepped down before they were
released. "But I do know it was the responsibility of the competent Greek
authorities [to remove them], not Frontex which transported them."

Frontex has hitherto denied any involvement in pushbacks, including in the case
of Omar B. and his family, which the agency has blamed on "national
authorities". Its role was to provide "means of transport, trained escorts,
translators and medical personnel," The Guardian reported.


DEPORTATION BEFORE ASYLUM DECISION

In the fall of 2016, Omar B. and his family fled to Turkey, from where they
traveled to the Greek Aegean Islands. After they had lodged their asylum claims,
a Greek policeman told Omar B. that the family was going to be brought to
Athens.

Then, on October 20, 2016 the family boarded a plane on the island of Kos.
Frontex officers were on board, too, according to tagesschau.de. Omar B. says he
didn't grow suspicious as EU law dictates that asylum seekers must not be
deported before a asylum decision has been made.

"When the airplane landed, we saw the Turkish flags at the airport," B. told
tagesschau.de. "That's when we realized that we had been lied to and abducted."
After the family was brought to the Turkish city of Adana, their lawyer
unsuccessfully tried to file a complaint with Frontex. The agency said the
responsibility rested with the Greek authorities, which didn't see a rights
violation.


THE FIRST CLAIM OF MANY?

Today, Omar B. and his family live in northern Iraq. The European Court of
Justice is his last chance for justice, albeit a late one. "I really hope that
the European court grants me justice and convicts the men who lied to us and
abducted us in Greece and brought us to Turkey," he told tagesschau.de.

Komp, his lawyer, expects the trial to take at least a year and a half before a
verdict is reached. But she's convinced that her client will win the case given
the clear body of evidence for Frontex's complicity.

"Despite their children being so young, the family was separated on the plane.
They were forbidden from talking to one another," Komp said. She hopes Omar B.'s
claim won't remain an isolated case.

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MORE ARTICLES

 * Italy's top court: Migrants can resist Libya repatriation
 * Hungarian top court declines to rule on EU law in asylum case
 * Hungary: 4,903 pushbacks after EU Court declared them illegal
 * Italy: Migrant 'readmissions to Slovenia illegitimate'

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