Court rules migrants are free to leave Greek islands

http://bit.ly/2HxnD0N | Migrants must be allowed into mainland Greece after court rules against containment on islands, says Amnesty International, after a top Greek court ruled on Wednesday that migrants landing on Greek islands should no longer be held there while asylum claims are assessed.

The decision is raising alarm in the EU institutions in Brussels, with one EU official describing the ruling as a "big worry".

In a ruling issued in response to an application filed by the Greek Council for Refugees, Greece's highest court annulled the Greek Asylum Service's decision to impose geographical restrictions on migrants arriving on six Greek islands (Lesvos, Rhodes, Samos, Kos, Leros and Chios). It will not apply retroactively to those who are already there.

Since the agreement of the EU-Turkey deal on 20 March 2016, migrants arriving on the Greek islands in the eastern Aegean have not been allowed to move onto mainland Greece because they are expected to be returned to Turkey under the deal....