accommodation and the special detention facilities provided in Article 31 of L. 3907/2011 operate. d. Within the premises of the above-mentioned facilities, special areas dedicated to people belonging to vulnerable groups as per Article 14(8) are provided’244 Although the Rule of Procedure of Closed Controlled Access Centres on the islands does not provide for a blanket prohibition of exit, the regime of de facto detention has been reintroduced in practice since the implementation of the CCAC. According to the Asylum Code, this ‘restriction of liberty’ which amounts to de facto detention, is provided by way of exception and shall not exceed 25 days.245 However, on arrival, newcomers might remain under arbitrary restriction of liberty until they are registered by the RIS. During this time, people are denied exit from the CCAC (see below, Reception and Identification procedures on the islands). From April 2016 to 31 March 2020, 2,140 individuals were returned to Türkiye on the basis of the EUTürkiye Statement (19% Syrian nationals). Of those, 43 were returned on the basis that their asylum claims were found inadmissible at second instance based on the “safe third country” concept and, of all those returned, 23% had not expressed the will to apply for asylum or had withdrawn their asylum application in Greece.246 No readmission operations have taken place since 30 March 2020. 247 According to official data, returns under the EU-Türkiye Joint Declaration have not resumed since March 2020.248 It should be noted that both Greek authorities and the European Commission 249 have requested Türkiye to resume returns based on the EU-Türkiye Joint Declaration.250 However, despite the suspension of readmissions to Türkiye since March 2020, Greece included Türkiye in the national list of Safe Third Countries pursuant to JMD 42799/2021 (FEK B’ 2425/07.06.2021). This list remains in force pursuant to JMD538595/2023 (FEK B’ 7063/15.12.2023) amending the above mentioned initial JMD and thus the applications lodged by individuals falling under the scope of JMD are still examined in the context of the Safe third country concept and the Fast-Track Border Procedure. On 2 February 2023, the Council of State issued its decision 177/2023, 251 on an annulment application lodged by the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) against the aforementioned JMD. In its decision, the Council of State formulated preliminary questions to the CJEU regarding the national list which includes Türkiye as a safe third country for asylum applicants originating from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, whose applications are therefore being rejected as inadmissible. In particular, the Council of State submitted preliminary questions regarding the ‘influence on the legality of the national list of the fact that, for a long period (over 20 months), Türkiye has refused the readmission of applicants for international protection, while at the same time it is not clear whether the possibility of a change in Türkiye’s attitude in the near future has been taken into account’. 252 On 14 March 2024 the preliminary questions referred by the Plenary Session of the Council of State (CoE) in its judgment No. 177/2023 concerning the inclusion of Türkiye in the national list of Member States of 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 As amended by Article 62 L.4939/2022. Article 40 (a) L.4939/2022. UNHCR, Returns from Greece to Türkiye, in the framework of the EU - TUR Statement. Source: Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection, 31 March 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3xtx5hp. HIAS, RSA, GCR, Asylum Case Law Bulletin, Vol.2/2023, December 2023, Decision No. ΙP/21911/2023, issued on 18 July of 2023 by the 20 th Appeals’ Committee, p.7, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/255ucet2. ΜοΜΑ, Information Note, November 2024 Asylum Reception Integration Procedures, available in Greek here. European Commission, Key Findings of the 2023 Report on Türkiye, 8 November 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/wdv96598; And ΜοΜΑ, Information Note, November 2024 Asylum Reception Integration Procedures, available in Greek here. EUAA, The EU- Turkey Statement, Asylum report 2022, Return of former applicants, available at: https://tinyurl.com/r3nxu7r2. Greek Council of State, Decision 177/2023, 3 February 2023, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3GvzhGl. RSA, Greek Council of State: Preliminary questions regarding Turkey as a safe third country, 6 February 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/4156P7u; RSA, Key points on the Greek Council of State ruling on the “safe third country” concept, 17 February 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3RriH0o. 65