Acknowledgements & Methodology
The present updated report was written by Alexandros Konstantinou and Athanasia Georgopoulou,
Aikaterini Drakopoulou, Vasilis Fragkos, Kleio Nikolopoulou, lawyers – members of the Greek Council
for Refugees (GCR) Legal Unit. Eleni Kagiou, Natalia Kafkoutsou, Eleni Koutsouraki, Efstathia Thanou,
Aggeliki Theodoropoulou (in alphabetical order), lawyers – members of the GCR Legal Unit and
Stefanie Lagos, Coordinator of the GCR Social Unit and Vangelis Papageorgiou, social workers –
members of the GCR Social Unit have drafted and/or reviewed parts of the present report. The report
was edited by ECRE.
This report draws on information provided by the Asylum Service, the Appeals Authority and the
Appeals Committees (PD 114/2010), the Directorate of the Hellenic Police, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Administrative Court of Athens, national and international jurisprudence, reports by
European Union institutions, international and non-governmental organisations, as well as GCR’s
observations from practice and information provided by the GCR Legal and Social Unit.
GCR would like to particularly thank the Asylum Service, the Appeals Authority, the Directorate of the
Hellenic Police for the data and clarifications provided on selected issues addressed to them by GCR
Legal Unit, for the purposes of the present report.
The information in this report is up-to-date as of 31 December 2017, unless otherwise stated.
The Asylum Information Database (AIDA)
The Asylum Information Database (AIDA) is coordinated by the European Council on Refugees and
Exiles (ECRE). It aims to provide up-to date information on asylum practice in 23 countries. This
includes 20 EU Member States (AT, BE, BG, CY, DE, ES, FR, GR, HR, HU, IE, IT, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO,
SE, SI, UK) and 3 non-EU countries (Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey) which is accessible to researchers,
advocates, legal practitioners and the general public through the dedicated website
www.asylumineurope.org. The database also seeks to promote the implementation and transposition of
EU asylum legislation reflecting the highest possible standards of protection in line with international
refugee and human rights law and based on best practice.
This report is part of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA), funded by the European Programme for
Integration and Migration (EPIM), a collaborative initiative by the Network of European Foundations, and
the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). The contents of this report are
the sole responsibility of ECRE and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of EPIM or the European
Commission.
2