B. Procedures 1. Registration of the Asylum Application Indicators : - Are specific time limits laid down in law for asylum seekers to lodge their application? Yes No The authorities competent to receive and register asylum applications are: (1) the Asylum Departments of the Aliens' Directorates of Attica (Athens) and of Thessaloniki, (2) the Security Departments of the National Airports, and (3) the Sub-directorates and Security Departments belonging to the Police Directorates across the country (there are 53 Directorates). There is no time limit in the law for lodging an asylum application. 2 It is foreseen in the Greek Action Plan that the First Reception Service (FRS) established by law No 3907/11 shall, upon entry, provide information to migrants, operate screening procedures in order to identify vulnerable groups and offer medical and psychosocial care, among other services. Nevertheless, the only ‘reception’ facilities at the borders are administrative detention centres for third country nationals entering the territory irregularly. The Greek Action Plan on Asylum further foresees the creation of asylum applications registration points within Security Stations at the Greek borders (islands in the Eastern Aegean sea, Evros river), on the assumption that interpreters will be available promptly and the Security Stations will be supported by more personnel. The aim of these new registration points is for them to operate as rapid response teams by performing first reception operations on the spot. The smooth operation of such registration points would partly overcome the existing barriers to registering an asylum application and would improve the conditions of first reception. However, at the time of writing this report, the registration th points were not operational yet. The first “First Reception Centre” (FRC) in Evros region received on 19 March 2013 its first ‘guests’. After the initial maximum stay of 25 days in the FRC, asylum seekers as well as those being held for deportation are being transferred to detention centres in the Evros region. So far nationals of Syria are being freed. The registration of asylum applications in Greece is, in practice, very problematic, and the obstacles to access the asylum procedure have been highlighted for more than 10 years. Although in theory, asylum seekers can lodge an application to local authorities, in practice, it has been reported that those authorities refuse to register applications and people are directed to the Attica Aliens Directorate in 3 Athens (PetrouRalli), where, therefore, the vast majority of asylum try to submit their applications. In a report published in July 2012, Greek NGOs claim that “access to the asylum procedure is almost 4 impossible in Attica”. Many other reports have documented the difficulties to lodge an application in 5 Greece in general and in Athens in particular. 2 3 4 5 Presidential Decree 90/2008, Article 6, para.1 : “Requests are not dismissed merely on the ground that they have not been submitted the soonest possible''. 14 Greek NGOs, Report of the Campaign for the Access to Asylum in Attica Area, July 2012. Ibidem. See, Amnesty International, Greece: The end of the road for refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, 20 December 2012, EUR 25/011/2012, p.5; Human Rights Watch, World Report 2012: European Union, January 2012. 13