Dublin II with particular focus on Greece

Welcome to Europe! Some information for your journey:

last update: August 2010

Most refugees don't want to stay in the country where they entered the european union, for example Greece. If you have an idea about your final destination, some of the following information might be useful for you

If you have been registered in Greece or any other european country, your fingerprints were taken, either digitally or on paper. The images are usually stored in the European wide "Eurodac" database. As soon as you will claim asylum in any other country of the European Union, the authorities may find out quickly that you have been registered in another country before.

According to an agreement between European countries (the so-called “Dublin II” agreement), all asylum seekers are to be returned to the country of arrival in Europe (or, in the case of unaccompanied minors only, to the country where they first applied for asylum). Therefore, if authorities find your fingerprints in the database and can thus confirm that you have been in Greece during your journey, they may try to deport you back here.

In recent months, the difficult situation faced by asylum seekers in Greece motivated many migrants and their supporters all over Europe to protest against deportations especially to Greece. Because of this, there are some chances to avoid deportation back to Greece.

However, the bureaucratic and legal procedures in different countries are complicated and change often. You’ll need to contact people who have experience dealing with the legal questions involved. Most likely, you will need a qualified lawyer who has handled “Dublin II cases” in the past.

Keep any evidence about the difficulties and problems you faced while in Greece, for instance getting access to the asylum-procedure, homelessness and incidents of police brutality. This information may help you and your lawyer to stop a deportation to Greece. Keep photographs and any documents you may have.

If possible, contact people who can give you advice before you register in the new country. Any information you give to the authorities, especially about your escape route, may be used against you in further asylum proceedings. Therefore, think carefully about how you describe your journey before you go to the first interview. Fingerprints are not the only way to prove your presence in other countries and justify your deportation! If, for instance, you say that you came via Greece or any other European country, the authorities might try to deport you there. If you have been controlled by border patrol when you left an airplane coming from Greece, this may also be considered proof that you have been there.
Tell your lawyer if you have ever been fingerprinted in Greece or any other European country!

Especially families might find themselves in a situation where one person went first to a specific country, and other family-members are stranded in Greece or elsewhere. In that case, you have the possibility to ask for family reunion. If a country accepted your application for asylum and is reviewing your case, you may try to get close family-members to join you. Such procedures take a lot of time and are quite complicated. Therefore, look for an experienced lawyer who specialises in such cases.

One final remark: If you can prove that you have been in a Non-EU-country (like Turkey or Serbia) for at least three months after your last registration in Greece, you may be able to avoid deportation from other EU-countries to Greece, as in that case the timeframe for the validity of Dublin II has expired.

On this website you’ll find contacts and some basic information about the situation in different countries that you might want to go to.As the legal conditions constantly change, there is no guarantee that this information is up to date.

Have a safe journey!

The information given on this website may have changed. Although we try to update it regularly, you should contact the NGOs, lawyers or support-groups listed for each country, to be sure about what to expect.
If you notice any changes on your journey that might be important for others, please inform us: contact@w2eu.info