through videoconferencing. Moreover, in view of the EUAA’s significant reduction of staff during 2022, EUAA case workers were under pressure to conduct at least two interviews per day and deliver three opinions per day or four admissibility interviews per day. In Samos, Kos, Lesvos and Chios, interviews on the examination of the asylum application were mainly conducted before an efficient vulnerability assessment had been completed. Requests for the interviews’ postponement (until the vulnerability assessment is completed) have been rejected by the Regional Asylum Offices (RAOs), despite the fact that the recognition/certification of a vulnerability can have a significant impact on the outcome of individuals’ asylum procedure, inter alia with regard to the credibility of the asylum applicant’s claims. Additionally, the asylum interviews of alleged minors were conducted before an age assessment procedure had been completed. However, the legal actors noticed that the asylum interview was concluded and the issuance of the decision was frozen until the issuance of a decision on the age assessment procedure. 377 In general, no reasonable time has been provided before the interview for applicants to access information on asylum procedures, legal aid, prepare for the interview and collect and submit significant documents/evidence in support of their application for international protection. Even if indications of vulnerability arose during an asylum interview, the caseworkers did not refer the applicants for psychosocial assessment. There was thus no individualised assessment of the specific profile and circumstances of the asylum-seeker. 3,601 asylum applications were found inadmissible based on the “safe third country” concept in 2022, including 3,445 in which Türkiye was the “safe third country”, 96 where it was North Macedonia and 60 where it was Albania.378 More specifically, 1,089 asylum applications by Afghans and 1,259 asylum applications by Syrians were found to be inadmissible based on Türkiye being a “safe third country”. 379 According to internal SOPs that were circulated within the Asylum Service in autumn 2021, asylum seekers of these nationalities, who had entered Greece from Türkiye and one year (or more) had passed since then, must be considered as not having a special link with the third country or that in any case the special link with Türkiye had been breached (See Safe third country). In Lesvos, the asylum application of a Palestinian single woman who grew up in a Syrian refugee camp was rejected as inadmissible.380 Despite the fact that this category of asylum seekers (stateless persons with one of the 5 countries of JMD on STC and Türkiye as countries of habitual residence) is not explicitly mentioned in the relevant JMD on STC and Türkiye, stateless persons with one of the 5 countries of the JMD as countries of habitual residence were included in the admissibility procedure. Based on this reasoning, Lesvos RAO examined the aforementioned applicant on admissibility grounds and rejected her at first instance. Additionally, in Lesvos, legal aid actors that undertook and represented the cases of survivors of the shipwreck of 6 October 2022 reported that the survivors’ asylum procedures that followed were particularly fast.381 Namely, a Somali single woman who survived the shipwreck received a first instance negative decision on admissibility just a few days after her interview. 382 Her vulnerability assessment had not been concluded, nor had it been explored during the interview. The shipwreck was never mentioned by the case worker, nor was it mentioned in the negative decision. Moreover, many subsequent applications were firstly examined on admissibility based on the safe third country concept under the JMD. In February 2022, the RAO of Thessaloniki accepted the subsequent application of a single vulnerable woman from Syria as admissible in the preliminary stage on the basis 377 378 379 380 381 382 Information acquired during the Lesvos LAsWG meeting, 28 June 2022. Reply of the Ministry to the Greek Parliament. Ibid. Information acquired during the Lesvos LAsWG meeting, 25 October 2022. Information acquired during the Lesvos LAsWG meeting, 25 October 2022. The case was represented by GCR and a second instance decision is still pending at the time of writing. 86