Author: pymusa.com | 9 March 2019
Earlier this week, the Greek Ministry of Migration Policy under extensive pressure by the European Union (EU), announced that cash assistance and housing services for formally recognized refugees would be eliminated. The decision comes off the heels of years of discriminatory policies that violate international human rights law and that have made the lives of the extremely vulnerable refugee community in Greece even more precarious. The withdrawal of critical assistance and housing services exacerbates the refugees lack of access to basic needs and justice, and further compounds the often ad hoc and arbitrary web of legal and social systems refugees are forced to navigate for basic survival. Namely, since the inception the of the March, 2016 EU-Turkey deal, refugee rights, under international law to seek asylum and protection in a safe third country, are denied. Many prominent human rights and legal organizations and individuals explicitly make clear the EU-Turkey deal violates and does not adhere to international law.