Covid-19 measures the requests of missions-returns of the Greek authorities have not been answered’.574 ❖ In a 20 September 2024 press release, the (former) Minister of Migration and Asylum, Mr Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, mentioned inter alia “but as far as Turkey is concerned, since we talked about the southeastern Aegean, we discussed the issue of Turkey with the Germans, and we certainly put on the table that Turkey must at some point start implementing the agreement it made with the European Union in 2016, which talks about returns to Turkey, and has stopped making returns since 2020 and the events in Evros, and we said of course that Turkey must also be pressured to cooperate."575 Despite this suspension, the Greek authorities refused to examine applications for international protection on their merits, as required by Article 91(5) of Asylum Code. That being said, in a positive development since roughly September 2023, asylum applicants from countries with recognition rate of over 95% (i.e., applicants from Palestine, Yemen, Sudan) have been, in the context of the border procedure, granted refugee status on the basis of their administrative file, without undergoing an asylum interview, in application of Article 82 para. 7 of the Asylum Code. However, in Lesvos, a malpractice has been observed with regard to Eritrean nationals. Specifically, individuals who have stated being Eritreans but who had resided most of their life in Ethiopia have been falsely registered as Ethiopians. It has been observed by legal actors that FRONTEX assessed them as Ethiopian nationals and not as Eritreans contrary to their statements. Legal aid actors observed the following: 576 ❖ The applicants underwent a nationality assessment during their interview at RAO Lesvos, during which they were asked questions regarding Eritrea which they could be reasonably unable to answer (since applicants claimed that they left their country of origin when they were very young, lost their parents, etc). ❖ In some cases, two interviews were conducted: RAO called the applicant for a 2nd interview during which they informed them that RAO, based on the first interview including a nationality assessment, rejected their claim as Eritrean national, concluded that they are Ethiopian and then asked the applicant whether they wanted to submit an application to change their nationality. ❖ It appears that the Estimated Nationality during the identification procedure functioned as an irrebuttable presumption and could only be disputed if original documents were provided. Some negative decisions claimed that: “The applicant did not provide the [Asylum] Office with an original identification document or other document in support of her [/his] claims in the context of the examination of her [/his] application for international protection. Her [his] administrative file contains a screening report No [XXXXXX] addressed to the Commander of the Lesvos RIC, where it is marked as Estimated Nationality after Screening, ETHIOPIA, as resulting from the identification procedure.” ❖ In some cases, while the Asylum Service accepted that the applicant was born in Eritrea, it rejected the nationality claim (as not internally credible due to the lack of information provided/inability to answer the questions regarding Eritrea) and held thereafter the asylum application unfounded. ❖ Another decision rejected an asylum application as manifestly unfounded, according to Article 93 par. 2 d, on the basis that the applicant provided false information regarding his nationality and tried to mislead the authorities. ❖ In some cases, where lawyers asked Lesvos RIS for copies of their clients’ files, there was no report to be provided regarding the nationality assessment.577 574 575 576 577 MoMA, Report A December 2024 Reception Asylum & Integration Procedures, available in Greek here, 18. MoMA, Δεν υπάρχει θέμα μαζικών επιστροφών – Αν καταργηθεί το πνεύμα του Συμφώνου Μετανάστευσης στην ουσία θα καταργηθεί η Ευρώπη, 20 September 2024. Information obtained during Lesvos LAsWG meetings. Information acquired during Lesvos LAsWG meeting of 28- November 2023. 126