On 4th October 2018, the deportation of three individuals was halted at the very last minute. They had been transferred from Moria Camp to the police station to be then escorted on the deportation ferry to Turkey, although the three men had not exhausted their legal remedies in Greece.
All three of them had their asylum application and their appeal against the decision rejected, however they wanted to present new evidences on their case and start a subsequent asylum application.
One of the individuals had not been able to properly present the grounds for the persecution he suffered in his home country in his asylum interview. The other two individuals were furthermore eventually classified as vulnerable after their second instance rejection, which had not been considered in their asylum procedures.
Four different lawyers were involved filing petitions to start a subsequent application of the asylum procedure to the Asylum Service in Athens and continuously calling the police. Although the police was informed, they first continued the operation.
Without the involvement of independent activists and solidarity lawyers, these people could have been deported directly to a pre-removal prison in Turkey. The activists and lawyers informed the UNHCR and the ombuds person who did not live up to their responsibility to intervene of their own accord.
Three other people could not be supported in their needs. They were deported at the same day to Turkey as the deportation of the other individuals was stopped.