Implementing the “Hotspot Approach” on the Greek Islands: Legal and Operational Aspects , di Angeliki Papapanagiotou–Leza e Nikolaos Garipidis
Whereas refugees from the Middle East and Africa started entering Greece already since the mid-seventies, at this time, and for many years afterwards, the legal framework of the Greek asylum system was premised on the idea that Greece is only a transit and not a receiving country. Law no. 1971/1991 was probably the first major piece of legislation which reflected a realization that part of this refugee population entered the country with the intention to stay and be intergraded in the society. Since then, the Europeanization of Greek refugee law initiated several legal developments. However, the improvements were marginal and, no doubt, the reception and asylum procedures constantly suffered from systemic flaws. The poor detention conditions, restricted access to the asylum procedures, low quality decisions and interviews, and a very low rate of recognition were only some of these flaws. The main cause of those inefficiencies can be traced back to the fact that the competence of refugee status determination was allocated.....