A just and equitable asylum process

As conflicts proliferate and become protracted, people continue to flee in search of safety and a better life. Since 2015, asylum seekers arriving at the borders of Europe continuously encounter a harsh reality: a Europe that entraps them in camps where they are made to live in inhumane conditions, and where their basic rights are not respected.

In 2020, attacks on refugees by reported fascist groups, year-long Covid-19 entrapment policies and the fire that burnt down Moria camp rendered an already critical situation utterly desperate. After the Moria fires, the temporary Mavrovouni camp was hastily built to shelter those displaced by the fires. Despite the construction efforts carried out in the camp in the last 12 months, residents continue to live in dire conditions. Future government plans consist of controlled closed centers, far away from the cities, which will further isolate and stigmatize the refugee communities.

While the living conditions of the camps of the Greek islands are widely known and covered by the press, the severe violations of the right to asylum is less known. The gaps in the asylum procedure seem to mirror those of the horrifying reception conditions in the camps.

In Lesvos, asylum seekers are rushed into asylum interviews with limited or no access to information or legal support. Short interviews are the defining factor that will determine people’s futures. In this context, only 3 in 100 people have access to a lawyer before the interview1. The difference between having a lawyer or not can -literally- be life saving; it can mark the difference between being granted protection or being deported to the country they fled from.