decisions taken in 2022, no more than 450 were appealed (1.3%) according to official data.23 13. The remedy is also severely ineffective. Out of 450 appeals lodged with the Hellenic Police against removal orders in 2022, only 12 were granted (2.7%) according to official figures.24 In cases supported by RSA, Hellenic Police decisions on such appeals appear to be identical, to lack specific reasoning on submissions and merely to state that “the foreigner lacks residence documents and the return decision was issued without a departure deadline, according to the provisions of articles 21, 22, 23 of L. 3907/11”. This is the case even for asylum seekers who enjoy a right to remain on Greek territory under EU and domestic law.25 14. The online platform managed by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum has frequently been out of service since its launch in July 2022, given that it does not offer an unlimited number of appointments. When a specific threshold of persons requesting registration at the RIC and Malakasa and Diavata is reached, the platform ‘shuts down’ and does not offer appointments to new requests. An automated message appears on the user’s screen, stating: “No available dates were found for the location you selected” and indicating only the request number, not the person’s details. 26 The platform was unavailable for the first half of April 2023, as the Ministry of Migration and Asylum had indicated that “From 1st of April until 17 April there will be no new appointments so that the backlog is cleared”.27 15. The platform has again shut down since early May 2023 to the time of writing due to a lengthy upgrade of the Asylum Service information system, “Alkyoni”. This upgrade has caused disruption in all areas of operation of the Asylum Service, including schedule of interviews, granting of identification documents, submission of appeals, affecting thousands of people in the asylum process.28 We also recall that the Asylum Service was again unable to grant documents to thousands of applicants for most of 2022 due to technical difficulties in issuing the Provisional Foreigner’s Insurance and Health Care Number (Προσωρινός Αριθμός Ασφάλισης και Υγειονομικής Περίθαλψης Αλλοδαπού, PAAYPA) for certain categories of cases.29 16. Even where the online platform operated, it booked appointments for several months later, reaching even up to twelve months in certain cases. These may subsequently be rescheduled by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum depending on availability of capacity.30 Similar issues hinder the booking of appointments for subsequent asylum applications through a separate dedicated online platform. 17. Information shared by the Asylum Service on 6 July 2023 in reply to a letter by legal aid actors suggests that the online platform for initial asylum claims on the mainland has been phased out altogether: “As regards the restart of registration of initial applications for international protection on the mainland and specifically in the Malakasa and 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 RSA, Immigration detention in 2022, April 2023, 3-4. Ibid. Ibid. RSA, Registration of asylum applications in the new mainland RIC in Greece, February 2023, 5-6, available at: https://shorturl.at/pvX04. European Commission, TF (Task Force) – GR (Greece) Coordination Meeting Operational Conclusions, Ares(2022)2924004, 14 March 2023. RSA, ‘The upgrade of the "Alkyoni" system of the Asylum Service leaves processes and people in the air’, 31 May 2023, available at: https://shorturl.at/zDSV2. RSA, ‘Refugees without identification documents: The Greek Asylum Service must urgently resolve technical problems’, 27 October 2022, available at: https://shorturl.at/nrtIL. RSA, Registration of asylum applications in the new mainland RIC in Greece, February 2023, 6. 8 RSA COMMENTS│ 2023