On 5th March 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) informed the representative of the applicant in F.A. v. Greece that the Greek government had rejected a friendly settlement and that the case would enter the contentious phase of the proceedings at the Court. The application of Ms. F.A. involves yet another case of a female asylum-seeker who was forced to live in the inhumane conditions in the “hotspot” on Samos during the last months of her pregnancy and after with her newborn child. Similar cases of pregnant women are pending at the ECHR, and another application has been settled in January by payment of 5,000 Euros.
Stavroula Kalea, lawyer of the legal information project of the RLCB on Samos explains: “The case of Ms. F.A. is emblematic for what people have to go through when they arrive to the Greek islands: inhumane living conditions, fire incidents destroying their homes, exposure to severe health risks, the lack of health care and protection against the pandemic, the complete ignorance of their needs and vulnerabilities by authorities, homelessness after recognition as refugee… there is no reasonable justification for these conditions and the treatment of migrants by the Greek state – we hope the European Court of Human Rights agrees with this. Nevertheless, we should not forget that the main responsibility lies with the other European states and the European Union, who continue to leave the countries at the external borders like Greece, Italy or Spain entirely alone with the situation.”
Find the full press release here (English):