Should asylum seekers be returned under Dublin system?

Over the past few months there have been repeated calls from a number of European Union member-states to resume the transfer of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin Regulation, which provides for the return of applicants to the member-states through which they first entered the EU.

Dublin transfers to Greece have been suspended since 2011, following two judgments by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which identified "systemic deficiencies" in the Greek asylum system.

While all the regular progress reports issued by the European Commission since this suspension had systematically concluded against resuming Greece's participation in the Dublin system, the latest report published on December 8 has for the first time recommended a gradual resumption of Dublin transfers to Greece from March 15, 2017.