The Greek Asylum Regime: From Latecomer on Reception to Inspirational Model on Asylum Procedures

Abstract

From asylum processing to reception, Greece since 2015 has undergone a gradual transformation that re-enforces its role as the external border of the European Union. The European refugee “crisis” of 2015, the closure of the Western Balkan route and particularly the EU-Turkey Statement of 2016, triggered a series of emergency measures that resulted in a new asylum regime. On the one hand, the “crisis” resulted in a newly formed reception system, with non-state actors taking an unprecedented role in offering reception services. Here, Greece maintains the role of the “student”, seeking to offer similar reception as most of its European partners. On the other hand, a differentiated asylum system emerged between land and sea borders, making Greece the only country with two parallel asylum processes. The chapter explores the different elements of the asylum regime in the country in the period 2015–2019, and argues that some of the practices on the maritime border, from the hotspots to the fast track border procedure, have found their way to the New Pact on Migration and Asylum of 2020, suggesting that in this case Greece functions as an inspirational model for Europe.