M.S.S. v Belgium and Greece · Application 30696/09
European Court of Human Rights, Grand Chamber · 21 January 2011
An Afghan man asked for asylum in Belgium. His earlier passage through Greece led Belgium to send him back under the Dublin system then in force. On paper, another European state would examine his claim. In Greece he experienced degrading detention and, after release, extreme destitution.
What Belgium had to examine
Reports available before the transfer described serious failures in Greece. The Grand Chamber found that Belgium had exposed him to degrading conditions and to the risk of onward removal without a proper examination of his asylum claim. It also found violations by Greece. Article 3 protected him against that treatment. Article 13, read with Article 3, required an effective way to challenge the danger.
If a transfer decision arrives
The case turned on what the authorities knew or ought to have known about conditions at the time. A later case needs current evidence. Keep the transfer decision, its date of service, any scheduled departure and evidence of personal vulnerability. Identify the material already put before the authority. Where removal is imminent, seek urgent local advice on the available remedy and whether it suspends the transfer.
Read the Grand Chamber judgment
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