According to UNHCR’s observations, the procedures followed in case of arrest after illegal entry in the Evros region involve, in a large number of cases, the issuance of deportation orders, without any prior 10 assessment of the person’s individual situation . Such deportation orders are frequently accompanied 11 by detention orders. The length of the detention is largely based on the feasibility of deportation, which itself is determined by the results of a nationality assessment, undertaken by Frontex, which are regularly used by Greek officials as the basis for their administrative processes. People determined to be of certain nationalities – including Iraqis, Syrians, Georgians and Iranians, among others – have frequently been detained for extended periods. It has been observed that the nationalities with extended detention periods may be liable to return to Turkey pursuant to the readmission agreement between Turkey and Greece. UNHCR is aware of a number of cases of return of third country nationals from Greece to Turkey during 2010 under the readmission agreement. It is noteworthy in this connection that Turkey, which maintains the geographical limitation to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not accept responsibility for refugees from outside Europe, has in the recent past removed people onwards to its neighbouring countries. In-country asylum applications can, in principle, be lodged at all Police Directorates, including at Athens International Airport and at Petrou Ralli (Athens). According to Presidential Decree 114/2010, it is possible to register asylum applications and conduct interviews at Athens International Airport, including for asylum seekers transferred back to Greece under the Dublin Regulation; a process which had just 12 commenced at the end of January 2011, but which is no longer applied generally in practice for the time being as transfers to Greece under the Dublin Regulation have been suspended in practice since M.S.S. v. Greece and Belgium. Since July 2009, asylum interviews with asylum seekers transferred back to Greece under the Dublin Regulation and applying for asylum in Greece for the first time have been carried out at the Asylum Department of the Attica Police Headquarters. In practice this means that transferees to Greece under the Dublin procedure face the same registration barriers, like having to queue at Petrou Rali. Although there are some designated asylum personnel to carry out asylum interviews at the Police Headquarters, both Amnesty International and UNHCR remain concerned that, given the concerns about the lack of training, expertise and sufficiency of specialized personnel, 13 asylum-seekers are not being provided with full and thorough interviews. 2. Regular procedure General (scope, time limits) Indicators: - 10 11 12 13 Time limit set in law for the determining authority to make a decision on the asylum application at first instance (in months): 6 Are detailed reasons for the rejection at first instance of an asylum application shared with the applicant in writing? Yes No st As of 31 December 2012, the number of cases for which no final decision (including at first appeal) was taken one year after the asylum application was registered: Not available United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees- Office in Greece, Contribution to the dialogue on migration and asylum, May 2012 and Amnesty International, Greece: The end of the road for refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, 20 December 2012, EUR 25/011/2012, p.5. Amnesty International, Asylum-seekers and migrants in Greece hounded by police operations and right-wing extremists, 20 December 2012. Idem, “EU asylum policy requires asylum-seekers to return to the first country they entered upon arrival in the EU. However, after the European Court of Human Rights concluded in 2011 that Greece lacked an effective asylum determination system, many EU countries have halted the return of asylum-seekers to Greece. “. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees- Office in Greece, Contribution to the dialogue on migration and asylum, May 2012, p. 3. 15