Don't send asylum seekers back to Greece: Dutch court

(THE HAGUE) - A Dutch court has blocked Netherlands authorities from sending asylum seekers who entered Europe via Greece back to that country for case processing, citing serious flaws in the Greek refugee system.

The district court in The Hague found in favour of a Somali complainant who had sought asylum in the Netherlands, but whose application was refused because Greece had been her point of entry to Europe.

"The court is of the opinion that ... the Greek asylum procedure has so many shortcomings that" it may be unable to meet its obligations under international refugee conventions, said a copy of the judgment on the court website on Monday.

EU regulations say refugees must seek asylum at the country that is their first port of call.

But Greece came in for stinging criticism from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in April, with the UNHCR saying that asylum-seekers "face undue hardships in having their claims heard" in Greece, and said no country should send asylum-seekers back there.

In a statement, the Dutch court said: "... it seems that Greece does not process these (asylum) applications, or does not do it properly.

"The risk exists that Greece is acting in contravention of the Refugee Convention and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The rights attached to these conventions are of such importance that asylum seekers cannot be exposed to the risk."

"The court ... ruled that a certain category of asylum seekers cannot be sent back to Greece."

While Greece has objected to "unfair" criticism from the UNHCR, three countries -- Norway, Sweden and Germany -- have already said they would suspend the return of asylum-seekers to Greece.

Dutch authorities have until recently maintained they would send the refugees back.