4.4. Legal assistance Indicators: Border Procedure: Legal Assistance Same as regular procedure 1. Do asylum applicants have access to free legal assistance at first instance in practice? Yes With difficulty No ❖ Does free legal assistance cover: Representation in interview Legal advice 2. Do asylum applicants have access to free legal assistance on appeal against a negative decision in practice? Yes With difficulty No ❖ Does free legal assistance cover Representation in courts Legal advice The law does not contain special provisions regarding free legal assistance in the border procedure. The general provisions and practical limitations regarding legal aid are also applicable in this case (see section on Regular Procedure: Legal Assistance). 5. Fast-track border procedure (Eastern Aegean islands) 5.1. General (scope, time limits) Indicators: Fast-track border procedure: General 1. Do border authorities receive written instructions on the referral of asylum applicants to the competent authorities? Yes No 2. Can an application made at the border be examined in substance during a border procedure? Yes No 3. Is there a maximum time limit for a first instance decision laid down in the law? Yes No ❖ If yes, what is the maximum time limit? 7 days Although the fast-track border procedure was initially introduced as an exceptional and temporary procedure, it has become the rule for a significant number of applications lodged in Greece. The total number of applications (first time and subsequent) lodged before the island RAOs (Chios, Kos, Leros, Lesvos and Samos) was 44,447 throughout 2024 according to the official monthly statistics published by the MoMA.584 The impact of the EU-Türkiye Statement has been, inter alia, a de facto dichotomy in the asylum procedures applied in Greece.585 This is because the fast-track procedure is only applied in cases of applicants subject to the EU-Türkiye Statement, i.e., applicants who arrived on the Greek Eastern Aegean islands after 20 March 2016 and have lodged applications before the RAO of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos. Moreover, since 2023, asylum applicants arriving in Rhodes are transferred inter alia to Leros and Kos CCACs and lodge applications before Leros and Kos RAOs, respectively. They are therefore channeled into the fast-track border procedure despite having arrived on another island.586 It should be noted that no reception conditions are provided in Rhodes during the period pending their transfer. The same practice has continued throughout 2024.587 By contrast, applications lodged before the Asylum Unit of Fylakio by newly arrived persons who entered through the Greek-Turkish land border and remain in the Fylakio RIC in Evros are not examined under 584 585 586 587 See relevant monthly Consolidated Reports – Overviews for 2024 available at: https://migration.gov.gr/statistika/. GCR, Submission of the Greek Council for Refugees to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in the case of M.S.S. v. Belgium & Greece (Appl. No 30696/09) and related case, 9 May 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/2XYhHpj. Ertnews, Συνεχίζεται η μεταφορά προσφύγων από Ρόδο προς τις δομές Κω και Λέρου – Πάνω από 4.000 οι φιλοξενούμενοι, 22 September 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/3ykvddaa. Information obtained by the LWG partners and GCR, during the year 2024. 115