RETRACTED: The Right to Asylum and EU Asylum Procedure in Greece

Abstract

Greece, under intense criticism over its asylum management by local NGO actors and European member states, has established a new asylum service, in 2013. In this article we explore the practice and the discourses that occur at the Appeals Authority, an independent authority in the determination of refugee eligibility at second instance, of the newly established Asylum Service in Greece. As members of appeal committees engage with each other and with the asylum seekers in deciding who is entitled to an international protection status, we argue that often informal, implicit factors emerge through which an asylum claim is judged. Through data drawn from an ethnographic study and interviews, we show how asylum status determination is ultimately taking place. The members of appeals committees simultaneously adjust legal obligations, knowledge and subjective judgments within the Greek asylum administrative mechanisms and policy instruments.