Greece
27.08.03
Urgent Interventions
Greece/Sweden: 100-days delay in the reunification of 2 Somali children asylum seekers with their mother
Case GRC 260803.CC
Child concern
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Greece.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM), a member of the OMCT network, of the 100-day delay in the case of 2 unaccompanied Somali children seeking asylum in Greece and trying to be re-united with their mother currently residing lawfully in Sweden.
According to the information received, these two Somali children, aged 6 and 13, have been held in Rhodes for three months, in a single room along with adults, due to Greek and Swedish authorities’ negligence.
Fuad (Nur) Shueb Hassan and Abdul Khadir Shueb Hassan, sons of Shueb Hassan and Fozia Mohammed Ali, born, as they stated, in 1991 and 1997 respectively, citizens of Somalia, entered Greece illegally, through the island of Leros, on 23/5/2003 and were transferred to Rhodes on 28/5/2003. There, they were hosted under detention in the former “Voice of America” facility, along with other adults.
The children told GHM and Medical Rehabilitation Centre of Torture Victims (MRCT), that when civil war broke out in Somalia, their parents fled the country leaving them and their other brother, Jelani, aged 11, in the care of their grandmother. Their grandfather asked a family friend to look for the children’s mother and arrange for their transfer. The children were transferred to Syria, where “...we boarded a boat to leave. Our middle brother (Jelani, aged 11) stayed back in Syria. On the boat we met with our half brother Abdel Hakim. He gave us some food and then we fell asleep. The boat brought us here". On 26/6/2003, the Swedish Red Cross (SRC), via the Greek Red Cross, contacted GHM and MRCT and asked for their mediation in order to help the two children reunite with their mother who was looking for them through SRC’s missing persons service. The children’s mother is a permanent resident of Sweden, on humanitarian grounds, since 1/10/2002, after filling an asylum application on 29/11/00. Under Swedish law, the children can be reunited with their mother.
Local Greek police authorities failed to inform the Prosecutor’s Office in Rhodes of the presence of unaccompanied alien minors, in order for the Prosecutor’s Office to take the necessary actions as far as their custody status is concerned under Greek law. On the contrary, on 26 May, Hellenic Police (EL.AS.) issued an effectively illegal deportation order ref. no. 6634/2/03/295b for them along with orders for the 19 other adult aliens that were on the same boat. EL.AS. had arbitrarily decided that their custody was at the hands of the children's half brother who was with them on the boat, and thus ordered the deportation of the three, as in the case of children accompanied by their parents.
Once informed by GHM, UNHCR in Athens, wrote on 15 August to the Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Order that the Greek Council of Refugees (GCR) would host the children once they are transferred in Athens, in an appropriate reception centre run by GCR, in Pikermi, near Athens. An asylum application was in the meantime filed by GHM and MRCT, ref. no. 5401/2/879, on 14/7/03; on the same day, asylum applications for the 19 adults were also filed by GHM and MRCT. Despite this, Greek authorities did not cancel the deportation orders. On 25 July, EL.AS. in Rhodes issued them with the temporary residence ("pink") cards for asylum seekers -which, incidentally, mentioned an inaccurate date of birth for the youngest Somali. However, these cards were given to the 21 asylum seekers only on 24 August: their detention was thus prolonged illegally for a month even though they had legal residence papers. On 18 August, the General Secretary of the Region of Southern Aegean gave a six month suspension to the deportation orders mainly because deportation was not feasible. Such decision is illegal as deportation orders should not be issued for asylum seekers; especially for unacompanied children, who require the agreement of the Prosecutor who has their custody. In addition, EL.AS. assigned the children and their half-borther to a different asulym seekers' facility in Sperheiada, some 200 km away from Athens. Only because of the intervention of GHM and MRCT arrangements were made so that the three Somalis end up in the GCR hosting facility on 26 August 2003.
GHM had also contacted the Swedish Embassy, on 8/7/03, to initiate the procedures for transferring the children in Sweden. The Embassy replied that it was "booked" until October. Later on, following the intervention of UNHCR and the Swedish Red Cross, the Swedish Embassy started the procedures which are now at the hands of the Swedish Migration Board.
Moreover, on 15/7/03, GHM had reported the case to the newly established Deputy Greek Ombudsman for children’s rights. The latter - jointly with the Deputy Greek Ombudsman for human rights - sent a letter “of utmost urgency and of immediate priority” to Hellenic Police (EL.AS.) on 30/7/2003. He requested the competent EL.AS. services “to take action in order to re-unite the children with their mother as soon as possible and to transfer their asylum applications to Sweden without delay, prioritizing the examination of their asylum applications over the applications of the remaining adults in the group with whom they had entered the country”. EL.AS. did not comply with the legal obligations that the Ombudsman reminded them of, notably to separate the case of the children from that of the adults; in fact, until 26 August, EL.AS. had not even replied to the letter. The children are thus still not in the legal custody of the Prosecutor or anyone else to look after their best interest. The reunion procedures, moreover, are following a very slow pace both in Greece and in Sweden.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Greece and in Sweden urging them to:
i. bring this urgent issue to the attention of the prosecuting authorities of Athens (the children are under their jurisdiction) in order to assume temporary custody of the two children in Athens, as provided under law, and to take all necessary actions in order to ensure that their rights are fully respected,
ii. urge the Swedish Migration Board to speed up re-unification with their mother as soon as possible.
iii. cancel the illegal deportation orders against the 21 asylum seekers
iv. investigate the indifference and possible illegal actions of the authorities involved, as described above.
Addresses
Mr. Constantine Simitis, Prime Minister, Prime Minister’s Office at the Hellenic Parliament, Greek Parliament Blgd, Constitution Square, Athens / Greece, Fax: +30 2107241776, Email: Mail@primeminister.gr
Mr. George Papandreou, Foreign Minister Athens, Fax: +30 2103681433, Email: gpap@mfa.gr
Mr. Filippos Petsalnikos, Minister of Justice, Athens, Greece, fax +30 2107489231
Mr. Giorgos Floridis, Minister of Public Order, Athens, Greece, Fax: + 30 2106917944
Mr. George Kaminis, Greek Ombudsman for human rights, Fax 30 2107289643
Ambassador of Sweden, Johan Molander, Rue de Lausanne 82 - CP 190, CH-1211, Genève 20, Suisse, e-mail : mission.sweden@ties.itu.int, fax: +4122 908 08 10
Swedish Migration Board - Migrationsverket 601 70 Norrköping Fax 011-10 81 55
Ms. Anna Lindh, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Gustav Adolfs torg 1 - 103 39 Stockholm, Sweden, Fax:+46-8-7231176
Ms. Lena Nyberg, Ombudsman for Children, Norr Malarstrand 6, box 22 106 Stockholm, Sweden, fax: +46 8 65 46 277
Please also write to the embassies of Greece and Sweden in your respective country.
Geneva, August 27, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Child concern
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Greece.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM), a member of the OMCT network, of the 100-day delay in the case of 2 unaccompanied Somali children seeking asylum in Greece and trying to be re-united with their mother currently residing lawfully in Sweden.
According to the information received, these two Somali children, aged 6 and 13, have been held in Rhodes for three months, in a single room along with adults, due to Greek and Swedish authorities’ negligence.
Fuad (Nur) Shueb Hassan and Abdul Khadir Shueb Hassan, sons of Shueb Hassan and Fozia Mohammed Ali, born, as they stated, in 1991 and 1997 respectively, citizens of Somalia, entered Greece illegally, through the island of Leros, on 23/5/2003 and were transferred to Rhodes on 28/5/2003. There, they were hosted under detention in the former “Voice of America” facility, along with other adults.
The children told GHM and Medical Rehabilitation Centre of Torture Victims (MRCT), that when civil war broke out in Somalia, their parents fled the country leaving them and their other brother, Jelani, aged 11, in the care of their grandmother. Their grandfather asked a family friend to look for the children’s mother and arrange for their transfer. The children were transferred to Syria, where “...we boarded a boat to leave. Our middle brother (Jelani, aged 11) stayed back in Syria. On the boat we met with our half brother Abdel Hakim. He gave us some food and then we fell asleep. The boat brought us here". On 26/6/2003, the Swedish Red Cross (SRC), via the Greek Red Cross, contacted GHM and MRCT and asked for their mediation in order to help the two children reunite with their mother who was looking for them through SRC’s missing persons service. The children’s mother is a permanent resident of Sweden, on humanitarian grounds, since 1/10/2002, after filling an asylum application on 29/11/00. Under Swedish law, the children can be reunited with their mother.
Local Greek police authorities failed to inform the Prosecutor’s Office in Rhodes of the presence of unaccompanied alien minors, in order for the Prosecutor’s Office to take the necessary actions as far as their custody status is concerned under Greek law. On the contrary, on 26 May, Hellenic Police (EL.AS.) issued an effectively illegal deportation order ref. no. 6634/2/03/295b for them along with orders for the 19 other adult aliens that were on the same boat. EL.AS. had arbitrarily decided that their custody was at the hands of the children's half brother who was with them on the boat, and thus ordered the deportation of the three, as in the case of children accompanied by their parents.
Once informed by GHM, UNHCR in Athens, wrote on 15 August to the Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Order that the Greek Council of Refugees (GCR) would host the children once they are transferred in Athens, in an appropriate reception centre run by GCR, in Pikermi, near Athens. An asylum application was in the meantime filed by GHM and MRCT, ref. no. 5401/2/879, on 14/7/03; on the same day, asylum applications for the 19 adults were also filed by GHM and MRCT. Despite this, Greek authorities did not cancel the deportation orders. On 25 July, EL.AS. in Rhodes issued them with the temporary residence ("pink") cards for asylum seekers -which, incidentally, mentioned an inaccurate date of birth for the youngest Somali. However, these cards were given to the 21 asylum seekers only on 24 August: their detention was thus prolonged illegally for a month even though they had legal residence papers. On 18 August, the General Secretary of the Region of Southern Aegean gave a six month suspension to the deportation orders mainly because deportation was not feasible. Such decision is illegal as deportation orders should not be issued for asylum seekers; especially for unacompanied children, who require the agreement of the Prosecutor who has their custody. In addition, EL.AS. assigned the children and their half-borther to a different asulym seekers' facility in Sperheiada, some 200 km away from Athens. Only because of the intervention of GHM and MRCT arrangements were made so that the three Somalis end up in the GCR hosting facility on 26 August 2003.
GHM had also contacted the Swedish Embassy, on 8/7/03, to initiate the procedures for transferring the children in Sweden. The Embassy replied that it was "booked" until October. Later on, following the intervention of UNHCR and the Swedish Red Cross, the Swedish Embassy started the procedures which are now at the hands of the Swedish Migration Board.
Moreover, on 15/7/03, GHM had reported the case to the newly established Deputy Greek Ombudsman for children’s rights. The latter - jointly with the Deputy Greek Ombudsman for human rights - sent a letter “of utmost urgency and of immediate priority” to Hellenic Police (EL.AS.) on 30/7/2003. He requested the competent EL.AS. services “to take action in order to re-unite the children with their mother as soon as possible and to transfer their asylum applications to Sweden without delay, prioritizing the examination of their asylum applications over the applications of the remaining adults in the group with whom they had entered the country”. EL.AS. did not comply with the legal obligations that the Ombudsman reminded them of, notably to separate the case of the children from that of the adults; in fact, until 26 August, EL.AS. had not even replied to the letter. The children are thus still not in the legal custody of the Prosecutor or anyone else to look after their best interest. The reunion procedures, moreover, are following a very slow pace both in Greece and in Sweden.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Greece and in Sweden urging them to:
i. bring this urgent issue to the attention of the prosecuting authorities of Athens (the children are under their jurisdiction) in order to assume temporary custody of the two children in Athens, as provided under law, and to take all necessary actions in order to ensure that their rights are fully respected,
ii. urge the Swedish Migration Board to speed up re-unification with their mother as soon as possible.
iii. cancel the illegal deportation orders against the 21 asylum seekers
iv. investigate the indifference and possible illegal actions of the authorities involved, as described above.
Addresses
Mr. Constantine Simitis, Prime Minister, Prime Minister’s Office at the Hellenic Parliament, Greek Parliament Blgd, Constitution Square, Athens / Greece, Fax: +30 2107241776, Email: Mail@primeminister.gr
Mr. George Papandreou, Foreign Minister Athens, Fax: +30 2103681433, Email: gpap@mfa.gr
Mr. Filippos Petsalnikos, Minister of Justice, Athens, Greece, fax +30 2107489231
Mr. Giorgos Floridis, Minister of Public Order, Athens, Greece, Fax: + 30 2106917944
Mr. George Kaminis, Greek Ombudsman for human rights, Fax 30 2107289643
Ambassador of Sweden, Johan Molander, Rue de Lausanne 82 - CP 190, CH-1211, Genève 20, Suisse, e-mail : mission.sweden@ties.itu.int, fax: +4122 908 08 10
Swedish Migration Board - Migrationsverket 601 70 Norrköping Fax 011-10 81 55
Ms. Anna Lindh, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Gustav Adolfs torg 1 - 103 39 Stockholm, Sweden, Fax:+46-8-7231176
Ms. Lena Nyberg, Ombudsman for Children, Norr Malarstrand 6, box 22 106 Stockholm, Sweden, fax: +46 8 65 46 277
Please also write to the embassies of Greece and Sweden in your respective country.
Geneva, August 27, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.