Michael - Fighting against a retroactive law

After spending 11 months in France during his asylum procedure, Michael, who has a serious health condition, decided to return very briefly to his country of origin to collect additional evidence of his persecution for his political activism. As a result, he lost access to his asylum procedure in France and had to smuggle himself into Greece. After his first rejection, Michael was unable to lodge an appeal as he was very ill and in hospital at the time. As he is eligible for a humanitarian residence permit, the asylum authorities referred his case to the Ministry of Migration. In fact, the law reserved the right to apply for it for foreigners who were particularly vulnerable or well integrated. Michael submitted his application in September 2020. In early 2021, the Greek government passed a law with retroactive effect, stating that applications submitted after May 2020 wouldn’t be examined by the authorities. Michael’s application was immediately rejected. This rejection violates an important principle in the justice system: It is forbidden to apply a new law to an event that occurred in the past, except if the retroactive application benefits the person. Michael has made an appeal against this unfair decision. Although the judge ruled in favour of Michael, the authorities have still not complied with the decision. Seven years after applying for asylum in Greece, Michael is still undocumented, homeless and struggling to get medical care. His legal battle is far from over.