GREECE | Ombudsman publishes special report on returns of third country nationals

In a special report on returns of third country nationals in 2021, the Greek Ombudsman stresses the small number of forced returns and the constant detention of third country nationals in police detention cells instead of pre-removal centers.

The report refers also to the European framework on returns of third country nationals, the developments following the EU Commission’s proposal in the New Pact for Asylum and Migration to create a single system of asylum and return procedures at the borders, as well as the Commission’s proposal for an independent border monitoring mechanism. The need to enhance transparency in EU operations is the focus of the Greek Ombudsman’s initiative together with his counterparts in other member states, to conduct independent monitoring in return operations (the Nafplion initiative).

The special report makes reference to the institutional cooperation with the Fundamental Rights Office of FRONTEX that continued in 2021, and the independent investigations initiated by the Greek Ombudsman following the referral of complaints by the FRONTEX Complaint Mechanism, among other, on illegal pushbacks.

To read the full report, see the download section below or visit the Greek Ombudsman’s website.

Source: Office of the Greek Ombudsman