(see Identification and Special Procedural Guarantees). In any case, in 2022 only seven cases were
exempted from the border procedures on grounds of vulnerability and need for special procedural
guarantees.410
In Lesvos, legal aid actors observed that, since June 2022, RAO has automatically applied non-border
procedures for applicants where the first instance decision has not been notified to them within 28 days
from registration, without however issuing any decision for a referral to the normal procedure (as it is not
foreseen in the law, according to RAO). 411 In these cases, the deadline for the appeal is automatically
extended as follows: for admissibility, the 10 days turn automatically to 20 days and for eligibility they turn
from 10 to 30 days. This practice is based on article 95 paragraph 2 of law 4939/2022, however the JMD
regulating this procedure has not been issued for 2022.
In Kos this practice was first noticed at the beginning of 2023, however, during 2022, all asylum
applications were examined under the border procedure regardless of whether a first instance decision
had been issued and served to the asylum seekers within 28 days of the registration of the asylum
application.
Furthermore, the total number of unaccompanied minors examined under border procedures in 2022 is
not available. In particular, as far as unaccompanied minors are concerned, Article 80 (7) Asylum Code
provides that applications filed by minors under the age of 15, as well as minors who are victims of human
trafficking, torture, rape or other serious forms of psychological, physical or sexual violence shall be
examined under the regular procedure. However, Article 95 (4) Asylum Code provides that
unaccompanied minors are examined under the fast-track border procedure in the case that:
❖ the minor comes for a country designated as a safe country of origin in accordance with the
national list (according to article 92 (5) Asylum Code);
❖ he/she submits a subsequent application;
❖ he/she is considered a threat to the public order/national security;
❖ there are reasonable grounds that a country can be considered as a safe third country for the
minor, and given that it is in line with the best interest of the minor;
❖ the unaccompanied minor has misled the authorities by submitting false documents or he/she
has destroyed or he/she has lost in bad faith their identification documents or travel document,
under the conditions that they or their guardian will be given the opportunity to provide sufficient
grounds on this.
5.2.
Personal interview
Indicators: Fast-track border procedure: Personal interview
Same as regular procedure
1. Is a personal interview of the asylum seeker in most cases conducted in practice in the
accelerated procedure?
Yes
No
❖ If so, are questions limited to nationality, identity, travel route?
Yes
No
❖ If so, are interpreters available in practice, for interviews?
Yes
No
2. Are interviews conducted through video conferencing?
Frequently
Rarely
Never
According to Article 69 (1) of the Asylum Code, asylum applicants are already required at the stage of
registration of their asylum application before RAOs, to give exhaustive reasons for fleeing their country
of origin. If they fail to mention all reasons during the registration, they have no right to develop claims
which are only for the first time mentioned during their asylum interview. However, in practice the
registration of the asylum application in the islands is by no means exhaustive and it mostly includes some
very basic information.
410
411
Reply of the Ministry to the Greek Parliament.
Information acquired during the Lesvos LAsWG meeting, 25 October 2022.
95
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