in 2017, and its subsequent annulment by the Greek Council of State, following an action brought forth by GCR, throughout the years, competence for the issuance of such a decision was transferred at the ministerial level, with the latest such decisions being issued by the Minister of Migration Policy in June 2019 and subsequently, following the amendment of the IPA, by the Minister of Citizen Protection in December 2019 (currently in effect).966 The Decision issued by the Minister of Citizen Protection in December 2019 regulates the imposition of the geographical restriction since 1 January 2020, 967 and states the following: ‘1. A restriction of movement within the island from which they entered the Greek territory is imposed on applicants of international protection who enter the Greek territory through the islands of Lesvos, Rhodes, Samos, Kos, Leros and Chios. Said restriction is mentioned on the asylum applicants’ cards. 2. The restriction on movement shall be lifted subject to a decision of the Director of the RIC, which is issued as per the provisions of para. 7, Article 39 of L.4636/2019, in cases of (a) unaccompanied minors, (b) persons subject to the provisions of Articles 8 to 11 of Regulation (EU) No 604/2013, as long as another member state, following a request by the Greek authorities, has accepted and undertaken the obligation to receive them in their territory, (c) persons whose applications can be reasonably considered to be well founded and (d) persons belonging to vulnerable groups or who are in need of special reception conditions as per the provisions of L. 4636/2019, as long as it is not possible to provide them with appropriate support in accordance with the specific provisions of Article 67 IPA (“applicants in need of special procedural guarantees”)’. In line with these Decisions, the geographical restriction on each asylum applicant who enters the Greek territory through the Eastern Aegean Islands is imposed automatically when the asylum application is lodged before the RAO of Lesvos, Rhodes, Samos, Leros and Chios and the AAU of Kos. The applicant receives an asylum applicant’s card stating whether they are subject to the geographical restriction (e.g., stating “Άνευ” if no restriction is applied). No individual decision is issued for each asylum applicant. The lawfulness of the aforementioned practice is questionable, for the following reasons: ❖ No prior individual decision for the imposition of the geographical restriction is issued, as the restriction is imposed on the basis of a regulatory (‘κανονιστική’) Decision of the Minister and no proper justification on an individual basis is provided for the imposition of the restriction of movement on each island, within the frame of the asylum procedure.968 According to the relevant Decisions, any asylum applicant who enters the Greek territory from Lesvos, Rhodes, Samos, Leros, Chios and Kos is initially subject to a geographical restriction on said island. The restriction can be lifted only if the applicant falls within one of the categories provided by the Ministerial Decision. Consequently, the geographical restriction in the asylum procedure is applied indiscriminately, en masse and without any prior individual assessment. The impact of the geographical restriction on applicants’ “subsistence and… their physical and mental health”,969 on the ability of applicants to fully exercise their rights and to receive reception conditions, by taking into consideration reception conditions prevailing on the islands is not assessed. ❖ No time limit or any re-examination at regular intervals is provided for the geographical restriction imposed. ❖ No effective legal remedy is provided in order to challenge the geographical restriction imposed by the Minister of Citizen Protection, contrary to Article 26 of the recast Reception Conditions Directive. 966 967 968 969 For more, see AIDA, Country Report Greece: 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45vXAir, pp. 153-154. Ministerial Decision 1140/2019, Gov. Gazette 4736/B/20.12.2019, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3Qi4K43. Article 7 recast Reception Conditions Directive. Article 17(2) recast Reception Conditions Directive. 203