The case concerned the living conditions of the 67 applicants in the hotspot of Moria (reception and identification center of migrants Moria) on the island of Lesbos. Some of the applicants were placed in a “cage” before being registered, in 2017-2018 and some complained of having suffered of medical issues and being in a vulnerable situation. During their registration, some applicants received a document stating that their detention will last a maximum of 25 days and it was indicated that the applicants could make objections before the president of the competent administrative tribunal. The applicants mentioned to have waited around one or 2 months to express their wish to apply for asylum and that their declarations were registered at different times between 18 September ad 13 December 2017. Amongst the applicants there were a mother and her son who arrived in Greece from Syria on 26 October 2017 with the aim of requesting family reunification in Germany where her husband and the father of the child lived, and they have applied for asylum in Greece too. This family was considered to be vulnerable applicants and their asylum application was registered on 20 December 2017. The restriction to leave the island was lifted on 3 January 2018 and their request for family reunification was rejected according to the Government as the German authorities questioned their family links. The applicants informed that they were notified of the rejection in July 2019, and they have lost the deadline to submit an appeal due to procedural deficiencies.

The applicants from no. 1 to 29 and 31 to 50 invoked Article 3 of the Convention and those from 3 to 17 listed in the annex claimed that their placement in a “cage” for 6 or 11 days, along with the poor living conditions in Moria amounted to inhuman or degrading treatment.

Applicants from 1 to 29 and from 31 to 50 as well as those from 3 to 17 listed in the annex based their claims on Article 13 in conjunction with Article 3 of the Convention because they alleged not to have an effective and accessible remedy to be able to complain of their placement in a “cage” for 6 days and concerning their living conditions in the center of Moria.

With regard to Article 8, some applicants complained of a violation of their right to family life because they alleged that the authorities did not respect the legal deadline for the asylum procedure, and this had delayed the procedures for family reunification with their relatives who live outside Greece.

The court reiterated the general principles concerning the living conditions of the applicants for asylum as stated in the judgements of  M.S.S. v Belgium and Greece, 30696/09, GC, §§ 216-234, 21 January 2011, Tarakhel (Afghanistan) v Switzerland, no. 29217/12,GC, no 29217/12, §§ 93-122, 4 November 2014 and Khlaifia and Others v Italy, no. 16483/12, GC, §§ 158‑177,  15 December 2016. The court took note of the reports concerning the conditions in Greece and the visit of the CoE Commissioner for human rights and considered that the conditions in Moria were amounting to inhuman or degrading treatment.

The court found a violation of Articles 3 and 13 due to the living conditions in the Moria ‘hotspot’ in Lesbos, and the lack of effective remedies in that regard. However, it found no violation of Article 8 by the delay in examination of family reunification in Germany allegedly resulting from delayed asylum proceedings in Greece.