That’s the message from the group of eight experts, including Ashwini K.P., the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, who urged Greece on Wednesday to investigate alleged violations against asylum-seekers.

They said that they were “particularly concerned” by the failure of the country’s security personnel and coast guard to provide “prompt and effective” assistance to migrants in distress and ensure safe disembarkation and adequate reception.

 Rounded up

Earlier this month, the independent experts requested detailed information from the Greek Government on a case involving 12 asylum seekers from Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia, including a six-month-old infant, who had reached Greek territory only to be rounded up by masked men, stripped of their belongings and forcibly taken to the port of Mytilene in Lesbos on 11 April.

“The violence, which was captured on video – verified, and reported by the media – exposed the racist exclusion and cruelty of Europe’s border protection practices,” the experts declared.

“The past 12 months have been among the deadliest for asylum seekers, refugees and migrants of African descent and others on their journeys, particularly along sea and land routes in the Middle East and North Africa region, and in perilous Sahara and Mediterranean crossings,” they noted.

‘Deliberate and coordinated policy’

“While the investigation is ongoing, there is growing evidence of a deliberate and coordinated policy of forcible return and other dehumanising border control practices by Greece “going far beyond deterrence and in contravention of its international obligations”.

“The role of racism and systemic racism in the treatment of asylum-seekers must be confronted within any meaningful review of these practices,” the experts said.

States have obligations under international human rights and refugee law to address the dangers and risks faced by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in host and transit countries.

A lack of regular migration pathways, coupled with restrictive migration policies, xenophobic rhetoric and many other push factors, operate to aggravate dangers and risks rather than mitigate them, the experts added.

Collective expulsions

They found the alleged unlawful, arbitrary, and collective expulsion of the asylum-seekers to be of particular concern, as it directly contravenes due process and the protections provided by the 1951 Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The said it was important not only to safeguard the lives of persons of African descent on the move, “but to ensure that their human rights, security and dignity are also preserved with special protection measures for those – including women and children – who are at most risk,” the experts said.

Special Rapporteurs and experts who serve on Working Groups are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organisation. They serve in their individual capacity and receive no salary for their work.

“Given the tensions and divisions arising from the constitutional referendum, the Central African authorities urgently need to engage all actors in a genuine political dialogue aimed at de-escalating the situation”, said Yao Agbetse, the UN Independent Expert on the Central African Republic, at the end of a 10-day visit to the country. 

Inclusive talks

“Only an inclusive political dialogue can provide a framework to (re)build consensus.  The military approach has shown its limits and there is an urgent need for a coherent and predictable political offer,” he added.

CAR has been grappling with conflict since 2012, as fighting between the mostly Christian anti-Balaka militia and the mainly Muslim Séléka rebel coalition killed thousands and left two out of three civilians dependent on humanitarian aid.

In 2013, armed groups seized the capital and then President François Bozizé was forced to flee. After a brief period of reduced violence in 2015, and elections held in 2016, fighting intensified again.

Peace talks got underway in early 2019 under the auspices of the African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation in CAR, led by the African Union (AU) with UN support. The deal was agreed in Khartoum, but formally signed in CAR’s capital, Bangui. 

Elections postponed

Mr. Agbetse stressed that a calmer political environment needed to be created so that local elections, which have been indefinitely postponed, could be rescheduled immediately.

“The Government must do everything in its power to create the conditions for an inclusive, transparent, fair and democratic election, with the effective participation of women and young people,” the UN expert said.

He urged the authorities to relaunch the process of implementing the 2019 Khartoum Agreement and the 2021 Luanda Joint Roadmap and to commit to the 217 recommendations of last year’s Republican Dialogue by taking concrete political measures to encourage armed groups to honour their commitments.

He also stressed that Sub-regional diplomacy was “essential” for the Government to address “issues of border security, particularly with Sudan”.

Attacks intensifying

Increasing attacks by armed groups, particularly the Coalition des Patriotes pour le Changement (CPC) and the rise of the Azandé Ani Kpi Gbé group in the South-East, are creating a climate of insecurity, he noted. 

Direct attacks by armed groups, including attacks on villages, mining sites, fields and on roads, hurt the economy and lead to serious human rights violations. 

“Insecurity is a major obstacle to the restoration of State authority,” he said, noting that it also increases dependence on humanitarian aid.

Outlining the movement of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers in border regions due to the Sudan conflict, and rising tensions in Chad which have pushed families into the Paoua region, the Human Rights Council-appointed expert said severe social repercussions were being felt along with a sharp rise in the price of basic foodstuffs.

Humanitarian support

More than 72 per cent of refugees are reportedly hosted by host families, who require psychological, material, and financial support.  “I call on the international community to step-up support for humanitarian operations by funding the Humanitarian Response Plan,” he said.

The expert said the situation in the North-West was also very worrying due to the presence of explosive devices, which are killing and maiming mainly civilians who are “deprived of basic humanitarian assistance”.

“The situation in CAR requires a combination of efforts on the humanitarian and development fronts,” said Mr. Agbetse.

“Humanitarian responses dictated by the emergency must be combined with development actions that are part of a national development plan.”

Experts’ mandate

Special Rapporteurs and other independent human rights experts are appointed to monitor and report on specific country situations or thematic issues.

They serve in their individual capacity, are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work.