Yesterday (21st of January 2011) was a bad day for the Dublin II system. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg judged Belgium and Greece for violating European Convention on Human Rights.
In the case MSS v Belgium and Greece an Afghan asylum seeker appealed against his deportion from Belgium to Greece based on the Dublin II-Regulation, that was carried out in June 2009. Subject of the proceedings were article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment), article 13 (right to an effective remedy) as well as article 2 (right to life).
Below you will find an extract of the decision. Within the next days we will post more information, including how this judgement could effect the future of Dublin II-Regulation.
A violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) of the European Convention on Human Rights by Greece both because of the applicant’s detention conditions and because of his living conditions in Greece;
A violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) taken together with Article 3 by Greece because of the deficiencies in the asylum procedure followed in the applicant’s case;
A violation of Article 3 by Belgium both because of having exposed the applicant to risks linked to the deficiencies in the asylum procedure in Greece and because of having exposed him to detention and living conditions in Greece that were in breach of Article 3;
A violation of Article 13 taken together with Article 3 by Belgium because of the lack of an effective remedy against the applicant’s expulsion order.
