The Ministry of Migration & Asylum must immediately comply with the legislation in force and EU law.

Two new Decisions issued on 17 March 2023 by the Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens ΑΡ 721/2023 and ΑΡ 741/2023reaffirm that the submission of an application for scheduling the asylum application registration on the online platform operated by the Ministry of Migration & Asylum, establishes the status of a person as an asylum seeker, despite the contrary practice that the Ministry still applies, in complete contradiction with national, European and international legislation, as well as the now emerging national jurisprudence.

The cases, supported by the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), concern Afghan citizens who, despite having submitted an application for the registration of their asylum request to the online platform of the Ministry of Migration & Asylum and awaited the date given by the Ministry to complete the registration of their asylum request, were arrested and detained, in violation of the legislation in force. In these two cases, their arbitrary arrest and detention hindered them from going to the Malakasa RIC to complete the filing of their application for international protection. 

According to the Court, "taking into account that the opponent, before his arrest [...] had already submitted to the Ministry of Migration & Asylum the [...] application for scheduling the asylum application registration [...] which set the date of registration of his application as [...] ], had already acquired the status of the asylum seeker. Consequently, his arrest, the issuance of a decision against him, and thus his subsequent detention under the provisions of Articles 30 of Law No. 3907/2011 is prohibited”, leading to the removal of the Afghan citizens’ detention as ordered by the Court. 

We recall that these decisions follow a recent decision of the Administrative Court of First Instance of Kavalahaving the same content, in a case also supported by the GCR, which, as with the decisions of the Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens, ordered the removal of the detention of the opponent, also an Afghan citizen, recognizing him as an applicant for international protection.

We should note that the Ombudsman has already intervened on the matter since 14 March 2023, following a report by the GCR and other organizations.

In its intervention, the Independent Authority called, among others, on the competent authorities of the Ministry of Migration & Asylum to examine the removal of the problematic drafting of the documentary evidence received by persons who complete the scheduling of the asylum application registration on the Ministry's platform, which arbitrarily states that "the present document is not an expression of will but a proof of scheduling the registration” violating, according to the Ombudsman, the purposes and definitions given under the current legal framework. Also, the Authority called on the competent police authorities to ensure compliance with the provisions of the legislation in force prohibiting the issuance of a return decision to anyone who has applied for international protection status and the subsequent detention for that purpose.

Finally, we note that a petition for violation of EU law on the same issue, filed by the GCR since December 2022 (CHAP(2022)03534), is pending before the European Commission.

However, the Ministry of Migration & Asylum still does not recognize the status of applicants for international protection to persons who apply to its services through the electronic platform it has set up, resulting not only in an increased risk of arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention but also in the total deprivation of their rights as applicants.

Given the above and in compliance with the relevant decisions of the Greek Courts, we call upon 

• the Ministry of Immigration & Asylum to ensure, by national legislation and Union Law, that persons who apply to its services through the electronic platform it has set up and await the given date for the full registration of their application for international protection are recognized as asylum seekers and enjoy the rights provided for by the legislation in force, including legal residence until the examination of their application, access to reception conditions and protection.
• the Ministry of Citizen Protection to ensure that the competent police authorities refrain from arbitrarily arresting, issuing a return decision, and detaining for this purpose, applicants who have entered the platform of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum and await their full registration.