Communicated cases against Greece (Application nos. 60990/14, 63074/19)

Date: 
Friday, December 11, 2020
  • B.Y. v. Greece (application no. 60990/14) concerns the case of a Turkish national who was returned to Turkey by the Greek authorities. He claims that he was mistreated by the Greek authorities and that his return to Turkey was carried out as a ‘forced disappearance’. Finally, he claimed to have been detained by the Turkish authorities upon arrival. Therefore, the ECtHR asked the parties, inter alia, whether the Greek authorities exposed the applicant to inhuman or degrading treatments, in violation of Article 3 ECHR, and whether the applicant was returned by agents of the Greek state and, if that was the case, whether he was the subject of a ‘forced disappearance’ and an ‘extraordinary return’. Additionally, it asked questions regarding the conditions of this return: did the Greek authorities know that the applicant would be exposed to a situation contrary to Article 3 ECHR upon his return, and whether the investigation regarding the return satisfied the requirements of Article 3 ECHR. Finally, the Court, asked whether the applicant had been deprived of his liberty in violation of Article 5(1) ECHR and whether a violation of Article 13, in combination with Article 3, had occurred because of the deficiencies in the asylum procedure at the time of the facts, notably with regard to the access to this procedure.
  • Z.H. and M.M. versus Greece (Application no. 63074/19) concerns the living conditions of Z.H., who was three months pregnant when she lodged her application with the ECtHR, and M.M., her three-year-old daughter, after they arrived in Greece to request asylum. The applicants complain that, even though they had expressed their wish to request for asylum upon their arrival before the Orestiada Centre for Reception and Identification, they lived in the streets for months, without accommodation or food being provided to them, waiting for the full registration of their asylum and family reunification request. Interim measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court were applied in respect of the applicants. Therefore, the Court asks the parties whether there has been a violation of Article 8 and/or Article 3 ECHR, on account of their living conditions when they were waiting for the registration of their asylum and family reunification request, thereby taking into account their vulnerability as a pregnant woman with a three-year-old child.

 


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Keywords: 
Detention
Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Reception conditions
Vulnerable person