hias.org | 7 December 2021|
EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ms. Ylva Johansson, issued a robust response to a joint open letter by organisations working in Greece.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your letter of 26October2021 and for sharing your concerns and recommendations on the situation of applicants and beneficiaries of international protection in Greece with regard to food provision.
Over the last few years, the European Commission has provided substantial financial support to Greece in order to improve migration management. We have supported the Greek authorities and international organisations active in the country in setting up, maintaining and improving asylum and reception services for applicants of international protection, and in developing integration programmes for beneficiaries.
The Commission has raised the issue of discontinuation of material reception support including food to protection status holders and persons with a rejected asylum claim with the Greek authorities on several occasions. We have underscored that all persons, irrespective of their status, should benefit from the provisions of EU law, notably the provisions of the Reception Conditions Directive, the Qualifications Directive and the Return Directive and from the relevant provisions of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. On this premise, the Commission has repeatedly called upon the Greek authorities to ensure all persons, particularly the vulnerable receive basic means of subsistence, notably, food and hygiene products.