The protection and solutions strategy targets three major emergency activities: protection activities at the entry points, reception, protection activities in the mainland and support to relocation scheme. UNHCR will continue to play an important role in addressing protection concerns of new arrivals at the sea entry locations, in particular within the context of the EU/Turkey agreement and the adoption of a new legislative framework foreseeing, inter alia, accelerated (border) asylum procedures. Main activities will include monitoring of procedures, advocacy towards observance of procedural guarantees and core legal remedies, access to asylum, prevention of refoulement and legal information. Advocacy in line with UNHCR’s detention guidelines will be applied. UNHCR will form a main (if not the decisive) actor in ensuring legal protection and in preventing instances of refoulement or unlawful treatment. Engagement at entry points will include schemes to support alternatives to detention (e.g. transit facilities for UASC and open accommodation sites/facilities).
UNHCR will support the capacity of the AS and of the RIS to respond to increasing needs.
In the mainland, UNHCR will focus in developing standards for the operating, by the State, of open facilities hosting PoCs; it will also ensure provision of information and protection services, with the aim of enhancing both legal (access to asylum) and social protection. Focused activities for children, women and other PWSNs will be enhanced, including population not residing in sites.
UNHCR will continue its work on CwC with a view to informing PoC of the essential protection and assistance related information. UNHCR will build on existing efforts of identification, referral and/or assistance to the people of specific needs, including provision of the specialized services. UNHCR will further ensure availability of accommodation to the most vulnerable among the PWSN as well as UASC.
As a measure to favor integration and promote peaceful coexistence with local communities, UNHCR will explore and develop out-of-camp approaches.
The office will continue to support in 2016 and further enhance innovative solutions for informal education.
UNHCR will continue to play a strong role in supporting the Government in coordination and leadership including a strong operational engagement and will assume a stronger leadership role in Information Management, in particular for protection analysis, site and population profiling.
Relocation scheme will pick up speed and may become an attractive alternative for persons eligible for relocation. UNHCR will assist in the provision of 20,000 reception places. Continued deployment of 40 AWF and adequate living conditions in 80% of the designated relocation will be prioritised.
Assumptions and constraints
The Balkan route is closed; smugglers continue to operate while spreading unrest and misinformation, hampering decongestion of Piraeus and Eidomeni;
The rapidly changing environment and complex legal situation of assessing access to asylum, relocation and family reunification will continue to prevail, requiring significant resources on the part of GoG and humanitarian actors;
Due to lack of capacity of the Asylum Services to process asylum claims, people will stay longer in the sites on mainland; on the islands the situation will deteriorate as the detention facilities will be overcrowded even with few daily arrivals and people staying longer awaiting registration;
The new law which exempts certain categories from the inadmissibility procedure, i.e. UASC and other vulnerability categories in the Greek law, might lead to a diversification of the population profile, i.e. more UASC or PWSN;
With the fear of being detained when arriving to the islands with hotspots we might see an increase of people to non-hotspot islands;
Land borders might become a new entry point for those trying to reach the mainland.