UNHCR: Greece treatment of asylum seekers too harsh

The UNHCR has advised the European Union not to send asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin Convention.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday in a statement that asylum seekers faced “undue hardships” in Greece, often lacking “the most basic entitlements, such as interpreters and legal aid, to ensure that their claims receive adequate scrutiny from the asylum authorities.”

The refugee agency described Greece’s recognition rate for refugees as “disturbingly low.” The overall protection rate for refugees of all nationalities in 2006 was 1 percent in Greece, compared with 24 percent in Britain, 45 percent in Italy, 19 percent in Spain and 50 percent in Sweden.