RLS's Lucy Alper spoke to Al Jazeera about barriers to claiming asylum for refugees in Greece

06/04/2022

RLS legal coordinator in Athens, Lucy Alper, spoke to Al Jazeera about the barriers to claiming asylum in Greece, as well as the police operation targeting undocumented people. An extract of the article can be found below and the full article can be found here.

“The Greek police’s current operation is both racist and unlawful,” said Lucy Alper, legal coordinator from Refugee Legal Support.

“Systemic failures and barriers within the Greek asylum system cause many people to be undocumented. It is harder than ever to register claims for asylum on mainland Greece, yet now police arrest people for not being registered.

“People imprisoned in detention centres face poor conditions and little or no access to legal aid. Proper access to asylum procedures and legal support is urgently required, not racial profiling and detention.”