March 2020 due to Covid-19. It should be noted that the Greek authorities have asked the Turkish ones to resume returns in accordance with the EU-Türkiye Joint Statement’.824 Furthermore, the suspension of returns/readmissions under the EU-Türkiye Statement is publicly acknowledged by both the European Commission and the relevant Ministers of the Greek government. 825 The European Commission, in a 12 October 2022 report on Türkiye, explicitly states inter alia that ‘Türkiye maintained the suspension of returns from the Greek islands that it put in place in March 2020 […] The return of irregular migrants from the Greek islands under the EU-Türkiye Statement continued to be suspended, as it has been since March 2020’.826 In its 6th Annual report, the Commission clearly points out that Türkiye was no longer using COVID-19 as a pretext for refusing returns. In particular, the Commission recognises that: ‘[a]lthough resettlements from Türkiye resumed as of July 2020, returns from Greece remain suspended. Responding to repeated requests from the Greek authorities and the European Commission regarding the resumption of return operations, Türkiye has stated that no return operation would take place unless the alleged pushbacks along the Turkish-Greek border stop and Greece revokes its decision to consider Türkiye a Safe Third Country’. 827 The Minister of Citizen Protection has explicitly stated that Türkiye refuses to implement the Statement and invokes the COVID-19 pandemic as grounds for suspending readmissions. The Minister of Migration and Asylum noted in early 2022 that “Türkiye has unilaterally suspended admission of those who do not qualify international protection since March 2020, under the pretext of COVID”. In a previous statement, the Minister stressed that Türkiye “has refused to implement its commitments, and continues to refuse to engage in any way on the issue”.828 Besides, the Readmission Unit of the Migration Management Directorate of the Hellenic Police, in response to relevant questions submitted by GCR, systematically confirms the absence of any prospect of removal of refugees from the Eastern Aegean islands to Türkiye, while the Administrative Courts competent for the judicial review of detention affirm the manifest lack of prospects of readmissions to Türkiye, highlighting that the procedure for the readmission of third-country nationals to Türkiye has already been suspended since 16 March 2020 and there is no evidence that this suspension will be lifted immediately; that the police authority has not proceeded to any action to execute the readmission decision; as well as that precondition for the readmission of third-country nationals to Türkiye is the submission of a relevant return application by the competent Greek authority. However, no requests have been submitted for the applicants’ return to Türkiye nor does it appear that there is any intention to do so, due to the indefinite suspension of the relevant procedures on the part of the Turkish authorities. 829 It is also worth noting that due to this suspension, the Greek authorities do not send readmission requests to the Turkish authorities regarding persons whose applications have been examined under the safe third country concept.830 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 MoMA, Report A, December 2024, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/47jnw39s, 18. European Commission, Türkiye Report 2021, SWD(2021) 290, 19 October 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3DiPMTP, p. 48; Reply to parliamentary question, Answer given by Ms Johansson on behalf of the European Commission, Question reference: P-000604/2021, 1 June 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3IIx2hW; European Commission, Commission Staff Working Document: Türkiye 2020 Report, 6 October 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3xgt4aK, 48. European Commission, Türkiye 2022 Report, SWD(2022) 333 final, 12 October 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3HmE7X0, pp. 5, 8. European Commission, Sixth Annual Report on the Facility for Refugees in Türkiye, COM(2022) 243, 24 May 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/40N9H7r, 2-3. European Commission, Sixth Annual Report on the Facility for Refugees in Türkiye, COM(2022) 243, 24 May 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3LakP8y, 3. RSA, Greece arbitrarily deems Türkiye a ‘safe third country’ in flagrant violation of rights, February 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3iIFsen, p. 3; MoMA, Request by Greece towards the EU for the immediate return 1,450 third country nationals under the Joint EU-Türkiye Statement, 14 January 2021, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3izPzmA. Administrative Court of Kavala, AR779/2022, 14 July 2022, para 4, Administrative Court of Athens ΑΡ831/2022, 26 May 2022, para 4, Administrative Court of Korinthos, Π2424/2022, 24 June 2022, para3, Administrative Court of Rhodes, ΑΡ46/2022, 24 March 2022, para 4, ΑΡ72/2022, 25 May 2022, para 4, ΑΡ78/2022, 21 June 2022, para 3, ΑΡ79/2022, 21 June 2022, para 3, ΑΡ515/2021, 16 December 2021, para 3; ΑΡ514/2021, 16 December 2021, para 3; ΑΡ450/2021, 3 November 2021, para 4; ΑΡ136/2021, 24 March 2021, para 4; ΑΡ122/2021, 4 March 2021. See e.g. Hellenic Police, 4666/3-123706, 14 February 2022; 4666/3-123672, 2 February 2022; 4666/3123670, 31 January 2022; 4666/3-123598, 20 January 2022; 4666/3-123580, 17 January 2022; 4666/3123567, 15 January 2022; 4666/3-123539, 11 January 2022; 4666/3-229920, 27 December 2021; 4666/3229748, 29 November 2021. 178