ANNOUNCEMENT
The case of Cisse from Guinea
Cisse, from Guinea, arrived in Greece in October 2019 as an unaccompanied minor and was found in the old camp of Samos, where he was taken over by METAdrasi through its activity of guardianship. Our first concern was to record his asylum application at a time when unaccompanied minors had exceeded 5,000 and the situation was particularly difficult, especially in Samos.
After growing up, he left the special area for unaccompanied children and continued to live with the rest of the population in the camp. Despite the difficulties he had been facing for the last two and a half years, he has learned the Greek language, goes to High School regularly (just graduated from the 2nd grade “Pythagorean” General Lyceum) and participates in a local sports team. He is a smart, polite, young man who speaks 8 languages and who has expressed his desire to study. In the 15 months after his interview, the first instance decision was issued by the Regional Asylum Office of Samos: his application was rejected as unfounded for international protection and his return to his country of origin was ordered.
In July 2021, a lawyer of METAdrasi in Samos took over the representation of his case, filing an appeal and a relevant memorandum. At the hearing on the 31st of August 2021 at the Headquarters of the Appeals Authority in Athens, his case was supported by the legal department of the Organization and, both in writing and orally, special emphasis was placed on, the full integration of Cisse in the local community of Samos.
Six days ago, Cisse received the second-degree decision, which after a non-personalized judgement rejected the appeal and the request to stay and ordered his return to his country of origin. In the following days, the registration of a subsequent request by the Samos Regional Asylum Office is imminent with the assistance and representation of METAdrasi’s lawyers. We expect and hope for a positive outcome in Cisse’s case, which will put an end to his suffering.