DH-DD(2020)929: Rules 9.2 and 9.6 Communication from an NGO in S.D. v. Greece and reply from the authorities. Document distributed under the sole responsibility of its author, without prejudice to the legal or political position of the Committee of Ministers. Increasing use of pre-removal detention against asylum seekers 8. The deterioration of legislative standards stemming from the aforementioned reforms should be read in the light of persisting deficiencies in Greek administrative practice. RSA & Stiftung PRO ASYL recall that the issuance of deportation decisions, and corollary pre-removal detention, to persons seeking international protection remains a systematic practice, despite the express recognition in the law of asylum seekers’ rights to remain on the territory pending the outcome of their asylum process.15 Up until now, the overwhelming majority of persons arriving in Greece are immediately and automatically issued a standardised deportation order by the police upon entry, without any assessment of their individual needs. This practice is followed despite the fact that those persons express their intention to seek international protection and that such an intention has been registered.16 On the basis of a police circular,17 a deportation order is issued and is then suspended upon the registration of an asylum application, since it cannot be executed. The suspension of the execution of the deportation order is lifted by the police where the applicant does not comply with certain obligations e.g. violation of the geographical restriction on a particular island18 or use of false documents.19 In those cases, the applicant is still in an asylum procedure, meaning that their right to remain on Greek territory should be guaranteed.20 9. Due to the ongoing policy described, the number of asylum seekers, i.e. persons with an ongoing asylum procedure and a right to remain on Greek territory, detained in pre-removal detention centres across the country – excluding other facilities e.g. police stations – has risen exponentially since the last examination of the S.D. case by the Committee, from 4,072 in 2016, to 9,534 in 2017, to 18,204 in 2018 and to 23,348 in 2019.21 10. The percentage of asylum seekers among the overall population in pre-removal detention centres equally reflects the increasingly systematic use of detention to persons seeking international protection since the last examination of S.D., as it has increased from 27.4% in 2016, to 36.9% in 2017, to 58.5% in 2018, to 77.8% in 2019.22 Accordingly, whereas roughly one out of four detained persons in Greece was an asylum seekers in 2016, more than three out of four were asylum seekers last year. 11. Moreover, on 2 March 2020, Greece issued an emergency decree (Πράξη Νομοθετικού Περιεχομένου) suspending access to the asylum procedure for a onemonth period.23 The suspension of access to the asylum procedure has been criticised inter alia by UNHCR, which has recalled that a state “cannot suspend the internationally recognized right to seek asylum and the principle of nonrefoulement”.24 During the period of effect of the decree, people entering the country and expressing the intention to seek international protection were subjected to blanket detention and deportation orders to Turkey under L 3386/2005, without any individualised assessment of grounds for detention. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 See e.g. ECtHR, S.D. v. Greece, App No 53541/07, 11 June 2009, paras 78-80. Vasileios Papadopoulos, ‘Αντιρρήσεις κατά κράτησης αλλοδαπού’ (2020) 32 Διοικητική Δίκη 337-345, 337. Police Circular 1604/16/1195968, 18 June 2016. See e.g. Administrative Court of Athens, 867/2020, 16 July 2020, para 5. See e.g. Administrative Court of Piraeus, AP 414/2019, para 6. Vasileios Papadopoulos, ‘Αντιρρήσεις κατά κράτησης αλλοδαπού’ (2020) 32 Διοικητική Δίκη 337-345, 339. Asylum Information Database, Country Report Greece, 2019 Update, June 2020, 177. Ibid. Government Decree on “suspension of the submission of asylum applications”, Gov. Gazette A’ 45/2.3.2020. UNHCR, ‘UNHCR statement on the situation at the Turkey-EU border’, 2 March 2020, https://bit.ly/37aDNYh. RSA COMMENTS │ 2020 3