total in-merit decisions (8,323), the rejection rate reached 91.6%, while refugee recognition rate stood at 6.76% and subsidiary protection rate at 1.28%. The top 5 nationalities granted refugee status at second instance in 2024 were Eritrea (26.47%), Afghanistan (16.62%), Türkiye (15.79%), Syria (9.87%), and Somalia (9.44%), while the bottom 5 nationalities whose recognition percentage was at or lower than 1% were India (0.00%), Nepal (0.52%), Albania (0.64%), Pakistan (0.67%) and Bangladesh (1.03%). 415 Out of the 4,588 decisions rejecting appeals as inadmissible, one in three (33.26% or 1,526) were rejected on the grounds that the appeal had been filed after the deadline provided in law. 416 An important difference between the practice of the Appeals Committees and the Asylum Service continues to be the comparatively more systematic use of subsidiary protection. This trend continues to raise concerns about possible shortcomings in the substantive assessment of asylum applications, given the extremely low number of applications heard orally in the Appeals Committees. 417 Examples of such cases issued in 2024 include: ❖ The case of a single woman from Sierra Leone, a survivor of SGBV and FGM, who had also been an active advocate against FGM in her country of origin. Current and trusted information on her country of origin corroborated the appellant’s claims. The fact that she had been submitted to FGM was also undisputed. Her appeal was nonetheless rejected due to a lack of detail in her personal account that would indicate for the Appeals Committee that the events described were a lived experience.418 ❖ The case of a single man from Bangladesh, whose asylum status was not renewed because his country of origin was included in the list of countries that are designated as safe by the Greek Government. The Appeals Committee found that given the significant amount of time that has passed since the traumatic events, which led the applicant to apply for asylum, as well as the current state of the Bangladeshi healthcare system, the conditions in his country of origin have changed significantly and the appellant no longer faces a well-founded fear of persecution. It should be noted that there was a minority opinion to the contrary by the case rapporteur.419 Time limits for lodging an Appeal before the Appeals Committees An applicant may lodge an Appeal before the Appeals Committees against a first instance decision of the Asylum Service rejecting their application for international protection. 420 The appeal may be lodged against a decision rejecting the application as unfounded under the regular procedure or against the part of the decision that grants subsidiary protection. The deadline for submitting an appeal is 30 days from the notification of the decision or from the date they are presumed to have been notified.421 The deadline is shortened to 20 days if the applicant was notified of the rejection decision while in detention.422 Scope of the Appeal According to Article102(10) Asylum Code, the Appeals Committees conduct a full and ex nunc examination of the asylum application.423 Based on legal precedents, Committees have the power to carry out their own assessment of the evidence and elements of the file. 424 Contrary to this position, however, some Committees have declared themselves as lacking jurisdiction to examine issues such as the need 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports - Overview: December 2024 – International Protection | Appendix A, available at: https://migration.gov.gr/statistika/, 15. As per information disclosed by the Minister of Migration and Asylum in reply to parliamentary question no. 3383/838/13.02.2025 on 7 March 2025. The reply is available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/2xwpkare. Refugee Support Aegean, The Greek asylum procedure in figures in 2023, available here. The case is on file with the author. The case is on file with the author. Article 97(1) Asylum Code. Article 97(1) Asylum Code Article 97(1) Asylum Code Council of State (Plenary), Decision 1694/2018, 21 August 2018, para 19. 19th Appeals Committee, Decision 6219/2021, 25 May 2021, para 4; 12th Appeals Committee, Decision 56970/2021, 10 June 2021, para A.7; 11th Appeals Committee, Decision 59841/2021, 11 June 2021, para 7; 11th Appeals Committee, Decision 62800/2021, 14 June 2021, para 9; 3rd Appeals Committee, Decision 75059/2021, 18 June 2021, para II.2; 6th Appeals Committee, Decision 140330/2021, 21 July 2021, 12; 8th Appeals Committee, Decision 1592/2021, 21 July 2021, para 3; 12th Appeals Committee, Decision 233902/2021, 9 September 2021, 3. 83