ATHENS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- One year after the Balkan border closures and the EU-Turkey deal, seeking refuge in Europe after reaching Greek shores has become "mission impossible", according to a report released on Friday by NGOs operating in Greece.
The EU-Turkey agreement, which opened the way after March 20, 2016 for the return of asylum seekers to Turkey, is hailed by European officials for dramatically reducing arrivals and deaths in the Aegean Sea.
New arrivals have dropped to fewer than 30,000 people in a year according to UNHCR figures, compared to the one million refugees who reached Greece from early 2015 to early 2016.
About 300 people have lost their lives since the launch of the agreement according to the International Organization for Migration, while about 960 have been returned to Turkey.
However, several rights have been lost in the process, the International Rescue Committee, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Oxfam claim.
The deal has turned Greece into a "testing ground" for policies that are eroding the rights of refugees to a fair asylum process, the three NGOs argue in a report based on the findings of a joint mission this February to the Aegean sea islands on the frontline of the crisis.
The primary focus in interviews conducted by asylum experts is on whether people can be returned, without assessing their individual case, which is crucial to protect people against being returned to a place where they may be at risk, NGO representatives told Xinhua in Athens.
The report highlights gaps in legal counseling and assistance to navigate complicated and constantly changing asylum procedures, as well as lack of monitoring of the process and concern over the expertise of European Asylum Support Office staff sent by EU countries to support Greece.
"People fleeing war and persecution have been met with uncertainty and a lack of necessary legal support to prepare for interviews which will seal their fate," said Gianmaria Pinto, country director of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Greece.
"It has become mission impossible for those who need it most to seek refuge in Europe," stressed Panos Navrozidis, International Rescue Committee's country director in Greece.
"Europe has set a dangerous precedent and we fear that it will be all too easy for other countries to also shirk their responsibility in providing international protection," added Nicola Bay, country director for Oxfam in Greece.
The NGOs reiterated a plea to the international community instead of raising walls and fences to provide more assistance to the people in need.
Approximately 62,000 refugees and migrants remain stranded in Greece over the past few months, according to government data, including about 13,000 people living in still dire conditions in overcrowded camps on the Aegean islands.
