Notwithstanding the judgments of the CJEU and the Council of State, GCR has received reports and is aware of asylum applications that have been rejected as inadmissible under the safe third country concept.842 On 9 April 2025, the Greek government issued a new Joint Ministerial Decision re-designating Türkiye as a “safe third country” for asylum seekers originating from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.843 The decision is based on a revised proposal that selectively cites favorable sources while excluding credible reports that contradict this classification. It disregards key evidence from the European Court of Human Rights, UN bodies, and EU institutions, which highlight Turkey’s mass deportations, persistent human rights violations, and lack of effective asylum access. Even cited sources are selectively interpreted. Moreover, the proposal lacks reasoning for why Turkey is deemed safe specifically for nationals of these countries, raising serious doubts about the legality and objectivity of the designation under asylum law. On 10 June 2025, the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) filed a judicial review before the Greek Council of State for the annulment of the aforementioned JMD and is pending. 2.1. Safety criteria Applications lodged by Syrian, Afghan, Somali, Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals In 2022, the Asylum Service issued 8,611 first instance decisions on applications lodged by Syrian (initially subject to the fast-track border procedure), Afghan, Somali, Bangladeshi and Pakistani applicants, including third country nationals of Palestinian Origin with previous habitual residence in Syria. The applications submitted by the aforementioned applicants were examined under the safe third country concept.844 According to the official figures provided by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum to the Hellenic Parliament, the Asylum Service dismissed 3,409 claims as inadmissible based on the “safe third country” concept (Afghanistan: 1,095, Bangladesh: 231, Pakistan: 249, Somalia: 577, Syria: 1,257). 845 A relevant breakdown for 2024 has not been provided by the MoMA, even though GCR has requested it. Instead, following the latest such request sent by GCR in January 2025, the MoMA replied by referring GCR to the Ministry’s website “and in particular at the link https://migration.gov.gr/statistika/ [where] the monthly newsletters are published, alongside relevant annexes, which include summary and detailed statistical data on the work of the First Reception Service, the Asylum Service and the Appeals Authority […]”.846 Yet a closer look at the public sources referenced by the MoMA highlights only a limited part of this data is available. Namely, as per the MoMA’ monthly updates,847 throughout 2024 a total of 2.143 first instance inadmissibility decisions seem to have been issued under the safe third country concept, in the context of border procedures. For the purpose of clarity and certainty beyond doubt, this data needs to be checked, given that in the two different language versions (English and Greek) of the same publication, the specific number is quoted in one case (English) as related to the number of first instance inadmissibility decisions under the safe third country concept, and in the other (Greek), as related to first instance inadmissibility decisions under the first country of asylum concept. Nevertheless, given that, as mentioned in First Country of Asylum, the specific concept (i.e., first country) is not applied as a stand-alone inadmissibility 842 843 844 845 846 847 IP/179788/26.03.2025 19th Appeals Committee, Αρ.πρωτ.:IP/179788 See official text of the JMD in Greek here. MoMA, Parliamentary Control, Protocol No 97157, 17 February 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3qGGT16, p. 8. MoMA, Reply of the Ministry to the Greek Parliament, 156079/2023, 16 March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3JIy0y6, p. 12. MoMA, Analysis and Studies Office, Reply to GCR’s request for information for the preparation of the present 2024 Update of AIDA Country Report: Greece, received on10 January 2025, in answer to protocol number 565, 573 and 574/2024 GCR requests, lodged on December 5, 2024. MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports - Overview 2024- International Protection | Appendix A, available in English here, table 8a ; and in Greek here, table 8a. 182