including third country nationals of Palestinian Origin with previous habitual residence in Syria. The applications submitted by the aforementioned applicants were examined under the safe third country concept.770 According to the official figures provided by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum to the Hellenic Parliament, the Asylum Service dismissed 3,409 claims as inadmissible based on the “safe third country” concept (Afghanistan: 1,095, Bangladesh: 231, Pakistan: 249, Somalia: 577, Syria: 1,257).771 A relevant breakdown for 2023 has not been provided by the MoMA, even though GCR has requested it. Instead, following the latest such request sent by GCR in January 2024, the MoMA replied by referring GCR to the Ministry’s website “and in particular at the link https://migration.gov.gr/statistika/ [where] the monthly newsletters are published, alongside relevant annexes, which include summary and detailed statistical data on the work of the First Reception Service, the Asylum Service and the Appeals Authority […]”.772 Yet a closer look at the public sources referenced by the MoMA highlights only a limited part of this data is available. Namely, as per the MoMA’ monthly updates,773 throughout 2023, a total of 3,454 first instance inadmissibility decisions seem to have been issued under the safe third country concept, in the context of border procedures. For the purpose of clarity and certainty beyond doubt this data needs to be checked, given that in the two different language versions (English and Greek) of the same publication, the specific number is quoted in one case (English) as related to the number of first instance inadmissibility decisions under the safe third country concept, and in the other (Greek), as related to first instance inadmissibility decisions under the first country of asylum concept. Nevertheless, given that as mentioned in First Country of Asylum, the specific concept (i.e., first country) is not applied as a stand-alone inadmissibility ground in practice, it could be presumed that in the latter version reference to the first country of asylum is erroneous. Since mid-2016, namely from the very first decisions applying the safe third country concept in the cases of Syrian nationals, until today, first instance decisions dismissing the applications of Syrian nationals as inadmissible on the basis that Türkiye is a safe third country in the Fast-Track Border Procedure, are based on a pre-defined template provided to Regional Asylum Offices or Asylum Units on the islands, and are identical, except for the applicants’ personal details and a few lines mentioning their statements, and repetitive.774 Specifically, the Asylum Service reaches the conclusion that Türkiye is a safe third country for Syrian nationals, relying on: (a) the provisions of Turkish legal regime in force, i.e., the Turkish Law on Foreigners and International Protection (LFIP), published on 4 April 2013,775 the Turkish Temporary Protection Regulation (TPR), published on 2014776 and the Regulation on Work Permit for Applicants for and 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 MoMA, Parliamentary Control, Protocol No 97157, 17 February 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3qGGT16, p. 8. MoMA, Reply of the Ministry to the Greek Parliament, 156079/2023, 16 March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3JIy0y6, p. 12. MoMA, Analysis and Studies Office, Reply to GCR’s request for information for the preparation of the present 2023 Update of AIDA Country Report: Greece, received on 14 February 2024, protocol no. 55259). MoMA, Statistics, Consolidated Reports - Overview: December 2023 - International Protection | Appendix A, available in English at: https://tinyurl.com/yc2stzh7, table 9a, and in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/4jz62zxm, table 9a. ECRE, The role of EASO operations in national asylum systems, 29 November 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/2RVALRt, pp. 33 and 35; ECRE et al., The implementation of the hotspots in Italy and Greece, December 2016, p. 38, available at: https://bit.ly/4a8glLp. On Lesvos, see GCR, GCR Mission to Lesvos – November 2016, available at: https://bit.ly/3Gv1rRT, p. 20; On Samos, see GCR, GCR Mission to Samos – June 2016, available at: https://bit.ly/3GvJJO6, p. 20 On Leros and Kos, see GCR, GCR Mission to Leros and Kos – May to November 2016, p. 32, available at: https://bit.ly/3t7mWoI. Türkiye: Law No. 6458 of 2013 on Foreigners and International Protection, 4 April 2013, as amended by the Emergency Decree No 676, 29 October 2016, available at: https://bit.ly/3LhAJhk. National Legislative Bodies / National Authorities, Türkiye: Temporary Protection Regulation, 22 October 2014, available at: https://bit.ly/2YM9F3T. 161