GENEVA
The United Nations has again warned the European Union against allowing asylum-seekers to travel to Greece.
William Spindler, the spokesman for the UN refugee agency UNHCR, said on Friday that difficulties in processing asylum applications in the economically troubled country as well xenophobia and racist violence, meant the EU should stop asylum-seekers travelling there.
Extending advice first given in 2008, Spindler warned in a press conference at the UN headquarters in Geneva on Friday: "European Union (EU) nations should still not return asylum-seekers to Greece."
He said: "Greece has seen a dramatic increase in refugee and migrant arrivals by sea. In all, around 43,500 people arrived there across the Mediterranean - a 280 percent increase from 2013.
"About 60 percent were from Syria, but there were also substantial numbers of Afghans, Somalis and Eritreans. Many move on to other EU states."
- 'Tightened control'
The UNHCR recommendation applies to asylum transfers done under the EU's so-called Dublin regulation which determines the states in which an asylum claim has been processed.
Spindler also highlighted further problems including "difficulties in accessing the asylum procedure, a continuing backlog of unresolved cases under the old procedure, risk of arbitrary detention, inadequate reception conditions, lack of identification and support for individuals with specific needs, push-backs of people at the border, concerns over integration prospects and support for refugees".
"We continue to document accounts of informal returns at the Greek-Turkish land and sea borders," he said.
The UNHCR noted: "Tightened control measures that have been in place since 2010 have resulted in decreased numbers of people trying to enter through the Greek-Turkish land border, while entries by sea have increased."
