104 M.S.S. v. BELGIUM AND GREECE JUDGMENT – SEPARATE OPINIONS arises in respect of vulnerable people only where it is the State’s passivity that causes the unacceptable conditions (“the ... authorities ... must be held responsible, because of their inaction, for the situation in which he has found himself for several months”). Perhaps, without delays in the asylum procedure and/or by affording asylum-seekers a genuine opportunity to take care of themselves (e.g. by effectively engaging in gainful activities), there would be no State responsibility for the situation1. Even if the Court is not tempted to follow the path of the welfare revolution, an odd situation will arise. For example, the mentally disabled, vulnerable as they may be, will not be entitled to the care of the State as their vulnerability is attributable to nature and the conditions causing their suffering and humiliation are not attributable to the passivity of the State. Unlike this undeniably vulnerable group, however, asylum-seekers will be entitled to government-provided services. In terms of vulnerability, dependence, and so on, the mentally disabled (and other vulnerable groups, whose members are subject to social prejudice) are in a more difficult situation than asylum-seekers, who are not a homogeneous group subject to social categorisation and related discrimination. The passivity of the State did not cause the alleged vulnerability of the asylum-seekers; they might be caught up in a humanitarian crisis, but this was not caused by the State, although the authorities’ passivity may have contributed to it (see below). Even if asylum-seekers were as vulnerable as the traditionally discriminated vulnerable groups, which they are not, the Grand Chamber confirmed again a year ago in Oršuš and Others (cited above, § 148) that the duty of the State is to give “special consideration” to their needs, but not to provide adequate living conditions. On a personal level, I find attractive the position that humanitarian considerations (“humanitarian standards”) must guide the actions of the State. This is explicitly required by the Dublin Regulation: national authorities shall not sit idle when it comes to the misery of asylum-seekers and migrants; but I find that human rights as defined by the Convention differ from humanitarian concerns. Greece has an obligation to take care of some basic needs of needy asylum-seekers, but only because this is required under the applicable European Union law. There is a difference in this regard between European Union law and conventional obligations which originate from the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment. The European Commission (COM(2009) 554 final, 21 October 2009) found that the current European Union asylum procedure system is 1. Third-party interveners claimed that asylum-seekers are deprived of the right to provide for their needs (paragraph 246 of the judgment). If this were corroborated and shown to be attributable to the State (e.g. if the practical difficulties of employment that were mentioned originated from restrictive regulation or official practice), I would find the State responsible under Article 3 for the misery of the asylum-seekers. This point was, however, not fully substantiated.