country,865 the IPA, as amended by the Asylum Code, has introduced further detail in the determination
of such a connection. Transit through a third country may be considered as such a connection in
conjunction with specific circumstances such as: 866
(a) Length of stay;
(b) Possible contact or objective and subjective possibility of contact with the authorities for
the purpose of access to the labour market or granting a right to residence;
(c) Stay prior to transit, e.g., long-stay visits or studies;
(d) Presence of relatives, including distant relatives;
(e) Existence of social, professional or cultural ties;
(f) Existence of property;
(g) Connection to a broader community;
(h) Knowledge of the language concerned;
(i) Geographical proximity to the country of origin.
The article attempts to incorporate into Greek law the decision of the Plenary Session of the Council of
State No 2347-2348/2017867, which accepted that Türkiye may be designated as a safe third country for
Syrian citizens. However, in view of the strong minority of 12 members, out of a total of 25, advocating at
the time for the referral of a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the European Union, this
judgment cannot be regarded as a reliable case-law, be it at the national, European or international level,
which would justify transposing it into Greek law. It should be noted that among the issues raised in the
Plenary Session, the issue of the applicant's safe connection with the third country was of particular
concern as well as whether the applicant's simple transit through that country was sufficient in this respect,
in combination with certain circumstances, such as the duration of their stay there and the proximity to
their country of origin.
The compatibility of Article 91(1)(f) Asylum Code with the EU acquis should be further assessed, in
particular taking into consideration the CJEU Decision in case C-564/18 of 19 March 2020, in which the
Court ruled that “the transit of the applicant from a third country cannot constitute as such a valid ground
in order to be considered that the applicant could reasonably return in this country”.
Article 91(1)(f) of the Asylum Code includes particularly broad, generic and often ambiguous factors that
are arguably liable to lead to an arbitrary application of the safe third country concept to an individual
applicant. This is particularly the case in relation to “cultural ties”, “broader community” or “geographical
proximity to the country of origin” which could virtually apply indiscriminately to all refugees originating
from a particular country. Any factors pointing to a connection with a country should be read with thorough
consideration of the individual circumstances of the applicant. Greek courts have clarified, for instance,
that such an assessment cannot be limited to mere reference to the number of refugees present in the
country or the duration of the person’s stay prior to arrival in Greece. Yet, asylum authorities at first and
second instance frequently use a standard text concluding on the existence of a connection between an
applicant and Türkiye, without having conducted any individualised assessment of their personal
circumstances.868
Greek Asylum Service practice with regards to Türkiye
It is worth noting that, since October 2021, applications for international protection of asylum applicants
originating from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia are deemed admissible if a period
of more than one year has elapsed since the applicants’ transit from the third country and the applicants
have not maintained relations (economic, social, etc.) with that country during that period. Hence, it is
considered that the precondition of the link as per Article 91(1)(f) of the Asylum Code is no longer fulfilled
and as such it would be not reasonable for the applicants to return to that country. The aforementioned
865
866
867
868
Article 56(1)(f) L 4375/2016.
Article 86(1)(f) IPA and 91(1)(f) of the Asylum Code.
Greek Council of State, Joint decisions 2347/2017 and 2348/2017, 22 September 2017, available here.
RSA, The concept of “safe third country” – legal standards and implementation in the Greek asylum system,
20 February 2024, available here.
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