We welcome today’s decision of the ECtHR in M.A. AND Z.R. v. CYPRUS (Appl. No 39090/20), in which KISA, EuroMed Rights and the Human Rights Center of Ghent University, also participated as a third party interveners. The ruling reveals and highlights in the clearest way the violations of human rights of asylum seekers who, at risk of their lives, try to enter the Republic to seek protection but are illegally refouled , in this case to Lebanon.
We had repeatedly positioned ourselves against the illegal refoulement of Syrians and other refugees to Lebanon, stressing that the policies adopted under the Ministry of Nikos Nouris and were continued by Konstantinos Ioannou under the current government and Deputy Minister of Immigration and International Protection, Nikola Ioannidis, who boast about their “successful” immigration policy of sea or buffer zone refoulement , are in violation of the ECHR and international law.
In its detailed judgment, the ECtHR decided that the Republic of Cyprus violated Article 3 of the ECHR, both from a procedural and a substantive point of view, since the applicants’ refoulement to Lebanon put them at risk of indirect refoulement to Syria and in living conditions in Lebanon that violate Article 3 (inhuman and degrading treatment).Further, it found that the Applicants were deported collectively , without their asylum claim being examined and without an individualized assessment of their asylum claim, which it accepted that they had made orally (Article 4, Protocol 4).The ECtHR also held that the applicants’ right to an effective remedy (Article 13) had been violated for not been able to address the above violations before a court in the Republic, and finally held that the applicants’ right not to be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment had been violated due to the conditions under which the authorities of the Republic had them confined in a boat in the sea for a period of two days, without enough food and hygiene conditions, before they were finally refouled to Lebanon.
Most importantly, the ECtHR rejects the government’s narrative that it wants to consider Lebanon as a safe third country after accepting that illegal returns to Syria are taking place, while the situation and conditions of refugees in Lebanon are tragic and amount to inhuman and degrading treatment. The ECtHR did not accept that the readmission agreement between Cyprus and Lebanon ensures protection against human rights violations and in particular against indirect refoulement to Syria. The ECtHR also awarded €22,000 in damages to each applicant as well as attorney’s fees and costs.
Today’s decision is a positive example of the promotion of human rights and unveiling their violations by the state, through the cooperation of lawyers, NGOs and academics, and KISA expresses its appreciation and we would like to thank all those who worked selflessly for this excellent result.
Once again, we call on the government to comply with its obligations under the laws of the Republic, the ECHR and international law and to end its policies of human rights violations and the refoulement of migrants and refugees. We call on the government to –
- Immediately allow access to asylum procedures and reception conditions to refugees trapped in the buffer zone who have so far been repeatedly refouled by the authorities of the Republic back in the buffer zone.
- End the policy of suspending the processing of asylum applications from Syrian refugees and grant them international protection since neither Lebanon nor Syria can under any circumstances be considered a safe third country or a safe country of origin, respectively.
- Ensure access to asylum to every person entering the Republic seeking protection, either from the sea or from the buffer zone, and humane reception and living conditions and respect the right to asylum as safeguarded under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.
- End the policy of deportations and the policy of “promotion” of Cyprus as an unattractive destination for refugees and migrants.
EuroMed Rights
KISA- Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism
CLDH – Lebanese Centre for Human Rights
