Greece has received operational support by the EASO/EUAA since 2011. The 2022-2024 operational plan was amended in March 2023 to take into account the changes in the operational context, notably in light of “the continued low rate of arrivals in the country compared to the period prior to the pandemic, and the increased capacity of the Greek authorities to process asylum applications, which has led EUAA and national authorities to agree on a phased exit strategy from support in the field of asylum”.15 Additionally, on 29 April 2024 EUAA and the Ministry for Migration and Asylum signed an updated Operational Plan, focusing efforts on supporting vulnerable applicants and unaccompanied children, and on prioritizing resources for processing new arrivals and registering applications.16 In 2023, the EUAA deployed 558 experts in Greece,17 most of which were temporary agency workers (532). The majority of these experts were case management reception assistants (57), site management reception assistants (52), caseworkers (51), registration assistants (43), deployed personnel on registration, administrative and information provision (32), Information management assistants (28), field support officers (27) and a series of other programme and support staff (e.g., operations assistants for unaccompanied minors, information and communication technology assistants, Dublin experts, legal officers, etc.).18 As of 19 December 2023, there were a total of 486 EUAA experts present in Greece, 46 of which were caseworkers, 44 case management reception assistants, 42 site management reception assistants, 35 registrations assistants and 29 deployed personnel on registration, administrative and information provision.19 5. Short overview of the asylum procedure The asylum procedure in Greece underwent substantial reforms throughout 2016, many of which were driven by the adoption of the EU-Türkiye statement of 18 March 2016. The adoption of Law (L) 4375/2016 in April 2016 and its subsequent amendments in June 2016 overhauled the procedure. Provisions related inter alia to the implementation of the EU-Türkiye statement were re-amended in March 2017, August 2017 and May 2018. Following the July 2019 elections, the new government announced a more restrictive policy on migration and asylum.20 As a result, the national asylum legislation was radically re-amended. L. 4636/2019 (hereinafter International Protection Act/IPA), was adopted on 1 November 2019 and entered into force on 1 January 2020, replacing the previous legislation on asylum and reception. The IPA has been repeatedly and heavily criticised by national and international human rights bodies, including the Greek Ombudsman,21 the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR),22 UNHCR,23 and several civil society organisations.24 It has been categorised, inter alia, as an attempt to 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 EUAA, Operational Plan 2022-2024 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Greece, 3 March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3RAaBD9. To be noted that, in the second half of 2023, a substantial increase in migratory flows to Greece led to an increased operational support from EUAA, under “surge support”, towards the end of the year. Information received from the MoMA based on the comments provided to the 2023 AIDA country report. Out of the 558 experts deployed in Greece in 2023, two were deployed under two different types of contracts. In addition, EUAA personnel numbers do not include deployed interpreters by the EUAA in support of asylum and reception activities. Information provided by the EUAA, 26 February 2024. In the figures above, the same persons may have been included under different profiles, if a change in profile took place in the course of 2023. Information provided by the EUAA, 26 February 2024. Amnesty International, Annual Report 2019, Greece, available at: https://bit.ly/2LDT5L6. Greek Ombudsman, Παρατηρήσεις στο σχέδιο νόμου του Υπουργείου Προστασίας του Πολίτη περί διεθνούς προστασίας, 23 October 2019, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/2LAxCCH. GNCHR, Παρατηρήσεις της ΕΕΔΑ στο Σχέδιο Νόμου του Υπουργείου Προστασίας του Πολίτη «Περί Διεθνούς Προστασίας’, 24 October 2019, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3KPLpnH. UNHCR, UNHCR urges Greece to strengthen safeguards in draft asylum law, 24 October 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/3fXkm9j. See inter alia GCR, GCR’s comments on the draft bill “On International Protection” , 23 October 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/3PUFCjB; Amnesty International, Το προτεινόμενο σχέδιο νόμου για το άσυλο υποβαθμίζει την προστασίας και τα δικαιώματα των προσφύγων και παραβιάζει τα διεθνή πρότυπα, 24 October 2019, available 31