seekers rejected by the Greek authorities, based on the “safe third country” concept,907 thus making the statement non-operational in practice. Imposition of the “geographical restriction” by the Police: Following an initial “Deportation decision based on the readmission procedure” issued for every newly arrived person upon arrival, a “postponement of deportation” decision is issued by the Police,908 by which the person in question is ordered not to leave the island and to reside in the respective RIC ‘until the issuance of a second instance negative decision on the asylum application’. The automatic issuance of a deportation decision upon arrival against every newly arrived person on the Greek islands is highly problematic, given that the majority of newly arrived persons have already expressed their intention to seek asylum upon arrival, thus prior to the issuance of a deportation decision.909 Moreover, the decision of the Police which imposes the geographical restriction on the island is imposed indiscriminately, without any prior individual assessment or proportionality test. It is also imposed indefinitely, with no maximum time limit provided by law and with no effective remedy in place.910 Imposition of the “geographical restriction” by regulatory decision: Following the initial introduction of a regulatory Decision imposing the geographical restriction by the Director of the Greek Asylum Service in 2017, and its subsequent annulment by the Greek Council of State, following an action brought forth by GCR, throughout the years, competence for the issuance of such a decision was transferred at the ministerial level, with the latest such decisions being issued by the Minister of Migration Policy in June 2019 and subsequently, following the amendment of the IPA, by the Minister of Citizen Protection in December 2019 (currently in effect).911 A new application for annulment was filed by GCR before the Council of State against these Decisions, however the hearing has been since consistently postponed and was still pending examination in December 2023. The Decision issued by the Minister of Citizen Protection in December 2019 regulates the imposition of the geographical restriction since 1 January 2020,912 and states the following: ‘1. A restriction of movement within the island from which they entered the Greek territory is imposed on applicants of international protection who enter the Greek territory through the islands of Lesvos, Rhodes, Samos, Kos, Leros and Chios. Said restriction is mentioned on the asylum seekers’ cards. 2. The restriction on movement shall be lifted subject to a decision of the Director of the RIC, which is issued as per the provisions of para. 7, article 39 of L.4636/2019, in cases of (a) unaccompanied minors, (b) persons subject to the provisions of Articles 8 to 11 of Regulation (EU) No 604/2013, as long as another member state, following a request by the Greek authorities, has accepted and undertaken the obligation to receive them in their territory, (c) persons whose applications can be reasonably considered to be well founded and (d) persons belonging to vulnerable groups or who are in need of special reception conditions as per the provisions of L. 4636/2019, as long as it is not possible to provide them with appropriate support in accordance with the specific provisions of article 67 IPA (“applicants in need of special procedural guarantees”)’. 907 908 909 910 911 912 Also see RSA, “The EU-Turkey deal is collapsing 7 years after its signing”, 16 March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/4d9CTNj. Pursuant to Article 78 L 3386/2005. Article 1 (c) Asylum Code clearly states that a ‘third country national or stateless person who declares orally or in writing before any Greek authority, at entry points or in the Greek territory, that they seek asylum or subsidiary protection […] or asks in any way to not be deported to some country due to fear of persecution […]’ is an asylum applicant. See e.g. Human Rights Committee, General Comment No 27 – Article 12 (Freedom of Movement, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.9, 2 November 1999, available at: http://bit.ly/2uG06Fj. For more, see AIDA, Country Report Greece: 2022 Update, June 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45vXAir, pp. 153-154. Ministerial Decision 1140/2019, Gov. Gazette 4736/B/20.12.2019, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3Qi4K43. 184