the Eastern and Central Mediterranean. Main countries of origin of people deported from Greece include two EU Member States: Bulgaria (106) and Romania (85). Administrative appeal against the return or deportation order Deportation or return decisions issued by police authorities may be challenged by an administrative appeal before the Hellenic Police within a tight deadline of five days. Statistics on administrative appeals against deportation or return orders still reflect systemic deficiencies in relation to access to this remedy. Out of 29,869 decisions issued by the Hellenic Police last year, only 367 were appealed: 1.2% of the total. Useful contrast on the accessibility of remedies may be offered by the asylum procedure, where the Asylum Service issues a return or deportation order together with the rejection of the asylum application, as a rule. 7 In 2023, the Asylum Service issued 7,593 rejections on the merits and 4,643 inadmissibility decisions, while a total of 10,973 appeals against such decisions were filed with the Appeals Authority.8 The persisting, full absence of free legal assistance by the state poses a serious barrier on the accessibility of the remedy to persons facing deportation or return. 9 More than two years following the Council of the EU recommendation on ensuring “effective access to free legal assistance”,10 Greece has taken no measure whatsoever to introduce it in practice. Moreover, our serious concerns about the effectiveness of the administrative appeal before the Hellenic Police in reviewing the legality of deportation or detention orders remain valid.11 These concerns are corroborated by official Hellenic Police figures: 345 appeals were dismissed and only 22 were granted in 2023, i.e. only 6% of the very few administrative appeals lodged within the year. Resort to immigration detention The number of detention orders issued by the Hellenic Police reached 24,174 in 2023, compared to 30,631 in 2022 and 21,044 in 2021. 7 8 9 10 11 Article 87(8) Greek Asylum Code. Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Statistics, December 2023, 8-10, available here. Article 28(4) L 3907/2011. Council Implementing Decision setting out a recommendation on addressing the deficiencies identified in the 2021 evaluation of Greece on the application of the Schengen acquis in the field of return, 13662/21, 10 November 2021, paras 1-2, available here. See also European Commission, Reply to written question P-5159/2021, 19 January 2022, available here. RSA, Immigration detention in 2022: Sharp rise in detention orders, no access to remedies and legal aid in Greece, April 2023, 4, available here. RSA POLICY NOTE │ IMMIGRATION DETENTION | MAY 2024 5