invoking inter alia Article 38(4) of the Procedures Directive when taking into consideration the suspension of readmissions to Türkiye.504 In February 2023, the 10th Appeals Committee considered that the Asylum Service unlawfully rejected the asylum application of a single Somali woman as inadmissible on the ground of the existence of a safe third country, taking into account inter alia the suspension of readmissions to Türkiye.505 Specifically, the Committee in its decision held that: “Because information indicates that already from March 2020 Turkey does not accept the return of migrants/refugees who entered Greece irregularly from its territory in accordance with the EU-Turkey Joint Declaration of 18 March 2016 (and the bilateral Readmission Protocol between Greece and Turkey). For this refusal of returns, the Turkish authorities invoke movement restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A recent European Commission report notes that "in response to repeated requests from the Greek authorities and the European Commission, regarding the resumption of return operations, Turkey has stated that no return operation will be carried out unless the alleged pushbacks along the Turkish-Greek border stop and Greece revokes its decision to consider Turkey as a safe third country". Finally, according to the ECRE's July 2022 report, the implementation of the EU-Turkey readmission agreement continued to remain frozen during 2021 and therefore no readmissions to Turkey took place in 2021. [,,,] Since, in the light of the foregoing, the Committee takes note of the fact that, since the beginning of the year 2020, Turkey does not accept readmissions. Moreover, despite the approximately four months - staying of the applicant in Turkey and the circumstances that she claims to have encountered during her stay, since, according to her, she was hiding from the authorities, the Committee takes into account the applicant's gender, that, during her stay in Türkiye, she did not develop a life relationship, as well as the fact that the applicant lacks a support network in Turkey. In light of these facts, in view of and the requirement of cumulative fulfilment of the conditions of Article 91 of the [Asylum] Code, the Commission considers that in the present case the conditions laid down by that provision are not met in order for Turkey to be considered a safe country for the applicant.” In 2023, Appeals Committees continued to highlight that women and girls are vulnerable to sexual and labour exploitation in Türkiye. In February 2023, the 16th Appeals Committee accepted the appeal of a Somali single woman and overturned the first instance negative decision of the RAO that had rejected her asylum application as inadmissible based on the safe third country concept.506 The Appeals Committee noted that: “taking into account in particular: a) the applicant's age (she is in her 37th year of age according to her reported date of birth, (b) that she has not attended school and is therefore perceived to be particularly vulnerable, given that she has never before been outside her country of origin; c) that she is not accompanied by a relative or another adult person capable of providing effective protection and it does not appear that there is a family or friendship support network for her (the applicant) in Turkey, the Commission suspects that due to the applicant's above-mentioned situation, there is a risk of serious harm to her in the event of her readmission to Turkey, where women are vulnerable to sexual and racial violence and the labour market also presents high risks of exploitation for single women, particularly if they are illiterate. In the light of the foregoing and in accordance with what has been set out in detail above, the Commission considers that in the applicant's case the legally required connection is not established, on the basis of which it would be reasonable for her to travel to Turkey and, consequently, the criterion in point (f) of paragraph (f) does not apply in her case.” In February 2023, the 21st Appeals Committee, accepted the appeal of an Afghan family, whose application had been found inadmissible at first instance based on the safe third country concept.507 The 504 505 506 507 Indicatively: 21st Appeals Committee, Decision 115795/2022, issued 28 February 2022, 10th Appeals Committee, Decision 224433/2022, issued 20 April 2022, 3rd Appeals Committee, Decision 345521/2022, issued 16 June 2022. Case represented before the Appeals Committee by a lawyer from the Registry, 10η ΕπΠροσ 83008/2023. Case represented by GCR before the Appeals Committee. Description of the decision available in Greek in GCR, HIAS, RSA et al, Greek Asylum Case Law Report, Issue 1/2023, p. 9, 16η ΕπΠροσ 85916/2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/2meam8kv. Case represented by GCR before the Appeals Committee. Description of the decision available in Greek in GCR, HIAS, RSA et al, Greek Asylum Case Law Report, Issue 1/2023, p. 9, 21η ΕπΠροσ 87590/2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/2meam8kv. 107