November 2023. The first two months consisted of preparatory actions (trainings, prioritisation of cases, etc.). Now, guardians are deployed and started work (see Legal representation of unaccompanied children). The number of applications for family reunification of unaccompanied minors before the Asylum Service in 2024 is not available. In August 2018, the Greek Dublin Unit introduced the Best Interests Assessment (BIA) Form to support unaccompanied minors claims under Dublin Regulation 604/2013. The BIA Form aims to gather and assess all necessary information required by Member States to assess the family reunification requests of unaccompanied minors and is an indispensable element of take-charge requests. UNHCR, UNICEF and EASO contributed to the development of the BIA while the National Dublin Unit considered tools and reports used by many other bodies, local organisations and NGO’s. 493 On 2 August 2023, the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum launched the pilot implementation of a new Toolkit, in the framework of the project "Harmonization, Establishment and Certification of Best Interests Procedures", with a view to establish standardised tools and harmonise the best interest assessment procedure of the child. The aim of the project, in line with the National Strategy for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors, is to harmonise the best interest procedures in Greece, by using standardised best interest assessment forms and by having the assessment process carried out by experienced and trained professionals. The project has been implemented since November 2022, in cooperation with UNHCR and the European Union Agency for Asylum.494 The submission of the best interest assessment does not necessarily lead to the acceptance of a take charge request, since other elements are also taken into consideration by the requested Member States, although no such requirement is provided in Article 8 Dublin III Regulation. These elements are considered evidence of the relative’s ability to support the minor applicant. GCR is aware of cases in which house contracts, photos of the place where the minor will be accommodated in the relative’s house and proof of income have been requested to prove the family member’s or/and relative’s ability to take care of the applicant. According to NGOs, Italy requests house contract and tax declaration. Other countries appoint social workers to contact the relative on their territory and the child with the aim to assess whether it would be in the child’s best interest to be reunited with the family member/relative. According to NGOs, France always conducts interviews with the relatives residing in the country while in one case, Italian authorities exceptionally called for an interview with family members of the minor due to insufficient information available in the file. Another factor that is being considered while assessing the best interest of the minor, is the existence of a family member/ relative in the requesting Member State. Although the mere existence of a relative does not change the legal status of the minors as unaccompanied, some Member States misinterpret the best interest of the minors by considering them accompanied. Based on that argument, they reject family reunification requests of unaccompanied minors and therefore, prevent them from being reunited with a closer family member. Although the best interest of the minor should be of primary consideration when examining a family reunification request, the requested Member States proceed with the assessment of the case under the Dublin III Regulation in all take charge requests addressed to them. Spain, for instance, does not examine requests of unaccompanied minors based on articles other than Article 8 of the Regulation. In one case handled by GCR, the Spanish Dublin Unit stated that all requests concerning minors are to be examined under the criteria of Article 8, while Article 17(2) was not applicable in this case as this is not considered to be a discretionary case by the Spanish Authorities. Thus, the case was finally rejected in 2021, without due consideration of the Best Interest Assessment Form and no explanation for the rejection was provided as required under Article 17(2) of the Regulation EU 604/2013. The practice continued in 2022 and, according to NGOs, France adopted the same practice of not examining requests that are based on other grounds than Art 8 of the Regulation. GCR is not in a position to confirm whether this remains the case in 2024. 493 494 For more, AIDA – Country Report: Greece, 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3PUOVk9, p. 72 et.seq. See the MoMA’s website under “Dublin III Regulation” at: https://bit.ly/3Vy0MWZ; MoMA, General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum launches new Toolkit on Best Interests Procedures, 18 August 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/4za42e7a. 95