(ATHENS) - The Greek government has been stung by international criticism of its treatment of thousands of asylum-seekers, with three European countries refusing to send people back to Greece.

Greece has protested that it is under an unfair attack after the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said no country should send asylum-seekers they have detained back to Greece.

"Greece's immigration policy, particularly on refugee issues, has lately sustained an acute attack which is both unfair and based on completely inaccurate data," Greek Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos protested this week.

"The truth is that Greece has followed a modern immigration policy, worthy of its history and culture," Pavlopoulos told reporters at an EU immigration summit in Luxembourg on Monday. "We demand fair judgment."

His comments came after the UNHCR said asylum seekers found in other countries after originally arriving in Greece should not be returned there.

EU regulations say refugees must seek asylum at the country that is their first port of call in Europe. But the UNHCR said asylum-seekers "face undue hardships in having their claims heard" in Greece.

"While Greece has taken a number of steps to improve its asylum system and practice, a substantial number of asylum seekers continue to face serious challenges in accessing and enjoying effective protection in line with international and European standards," the agency said.

It noted that asylum-seekers in Greece "often lack the most basic entitlements, such as interpreters and legal aid to ensure that their claims receive adequate scrutiny from the asylum authorities".

"Moreover, reception conditions in Greece continue to fall short of international and European standards," the UNHCR said.

Norway, Sweden and Germany have already said they would suspend the return of asylum-seekers to Greece.

"The situation here is very poor," said Amnesty International activist Nicholas Kaminis. "Greece in 2007 had an asylum approval rate of 0.04 percent, just eight cases among 25,000 requests, and that's just unacceptably low."

An Iranian woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that she and her husband have been waiting for a Greek decision for six years.

The couple got to Germany in 2002, but were returned to Greece. They have since been given a temporary residence permit and only found work thanks to a Greek non-government group.

Minister Pavlopoulos said Greek authorities have difficulty in separating refugees from economic migrants as both usually arrive without identification papers.

"The great majority of arrivals are economic refugees without political motive, mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh," he told AFP.

"Ninety-five percent do not carry identification papers, they claim to be Palestinian on arrival, and we have no means to corroborate their claims."

The minister also highlighted Greece's "exposed geographical position."

"We are the European country closest to the Middle East and troubled regions, where our country is seen like an Eldorado," the minister said.

"One cannot compare Greece, which is exposed by its geographical position, to Scandinavia," he said.

Greece says its illegal migrant arrests have nearly tripled in four years, from nearly 45,000 in 2004 to over 112,000 in 2007.

The country is fourth in asylum requests in the EU -- behind Sweden, France and Britain -- and receives less refugee funding from the bloc than the other three, Pavlopoulos said.

Human rights groups admit that there are cases of economic migrants abusing the system to avoid expulsion, but insist that Greek authorities show a lack of interest on the issue.

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