The European Court of Human Rights has issued a landmark ruling having found that Greece violated the right to family life and the right to an effective remedy in family reunification cases involving recognized refugees.
In three judgments published Tuesday, Dotani v. Greece, Suji v. Greece and T.N. v. Greece, the Strasbourg court examined the prolonged failure of Greek authorities to rule on reunification requests filed by people who had been granted refugee status in Greece but were objectively unable to produce the documents required under Greek law.
In all three cases, the applicants had sought to reunite with their wives and minor children. According to the judgments, Greek authorities did not decide in good time, insisting instead on documents the applicants could not realistically obtain.
In the Dotani case, the applicant, a recognized refugee from Afghanistan, was unable to secure documents certified by Greece’s consular office in Islamabad, because that office refused to authenticate papers issued by the governing authority in Afghanistan. “While we waited, I often felt I couldn’t breathe. With this decision, I felt I had found my voice,” the refugee said.
In the Suji case, the applicant, a stateless Rohingya from Myanmar, could not provide travel documents because his family members had none, a consequence of their statelessness. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority who have faced decades of persecution in Myanmar and are largely denied citizenship there. “I feel vindicated. I am moved and surprised by the decision,” he said after the ruling was published.
In the T.N. case, the applicant, a recognized refugee from Burundi, was objectively unable to produce the required travel documents for his family members, who are asylum seekers in South Africa. “I am grateful and, for the first time in many years, hopeful. I hope that one day I will be able to see my family again,” he said.
The cases were supported legally, at both the national level and before the European Court of Human Rights, by the Greek Council for Refugees, a nongovernmental organization that provides legal and social aid to refugees and asylum seekers. According to the organization, the court held that Greek authorities had failed to ensure a sufficiently flexible, effective and prompt procedure for examining reunification requests. It found, in particular, that the objective difficulties applicants faced in proving family ties and obtaining travel documents had not been adequately taken into account, that no individualized assessment was carried out, and that the best interests of the children involved were not considered. The court also held that the Asylum Service, as the only competent authority, should have sought alternative solutions.
In all three cases the court unanimously found a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to respect for family life, together with a violation of Article 13 read in conjunction with Article 8, ruling that the applicants had no effective domestic remedy to address the prolonged administrative inaction.
The judgments are expected to have a significant impact on how family reunification requests are handled in Greece, particularly in cases involving recognized refugees who are objectively unable to produce the required supporting documents.
