The applicant is a national of Eritrea who entered Germany on 6 July 2018 and requested asylum on 24 July 2018. A Eurodac hit revealed that he had been granted asylum in Greece in 2015. Before the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) the applicant presented the difficulties encountered in Greece with regard to access to asylum procedure and stated that he had not received a residence permit there, only an ID which he had to renew every 6 months. He further added that he was threatened with deportation, he had no housing or medical care and suffered from gastritis. His application for asylum was rejected as inadmissible by BAMF on 31 July 2018 and the decision included the fact that there was no deportation ban to Greece. On 16 August 2018, the applicant appealed and stated that the conditions in Greece violated human rights, the asylum system is inadequate and that even when the asylum procedure was completed and a positive asylum decision was made, the state does not guarantee shelter, food, medical care and sufficient pocket money and he has no family support in Greece. 

The administrative court dismissed the action by judgment of 30 April 2020, holding that there was no indication that the applicant, a single, healthy 40-year-old man, would be in an inhuman situation in the event of his return to Greece despite the difficult conditions prevailing there. The applicant further appealed this decision.

The Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia allowed the appeal and annulled the decision of BAMF. It held that the applicant would be in serious danger if he returns to Greece and that regardless of his will and his personal decisions, he will find himself in a situation of extreme material hardship in Greece, where his most elementary needs (“bed, bread, soap”) will not be satisfied for a longer period of time. The court added that according to the information available at the time of the decision, it can be assumed that persons entitled to international protection regularly do not have access to decent accommodation after their return to Greece, there is no state support in the form of an allocation of housing and those entitled to international protection must obtain living space on the free housing market, where they are met with prejudice. In addition, accommodation for the homeless is chronically overcrowded and there is no separate support for their living expenses. The court further added that according to information available for 2020 there were hundreds of beneficiaries of international protection living on the streets in Athens and the Moria fires brought further refugees to the mainland that were left without support. In addition, the newly built Kara Tepe camp was not adequately equipped and a change in the law in March 2020 ceased the right to state support for accommodation and meals 30 days after refugee status is received. Furthermore, the COVID-19 restrictions and night curfews pose additional difficulties to refugees who are homeless and the chances of finding a job are slim although refugees have access to the labour market. Also, the "ESTIA" aid program would not be applicable to the applicant who already has refugee status and he would have no access to state social benefits with which to secure his subsistence level. Therefore, the court banned the removal of the applicant to Greece.