geographical restriction must be imposed following an individual assessment and a reasoned administrative act, giving the applicant the possibility of effective judicial protection, as this [measure] introduces a restriction on [the applicant’s] freedom of movement’. In May 2021, amid the lowest levels of overcrowding observed since 2015, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights similarly underlined that “action to improve the lingering substandard living conditions in the Reception and Identification Centres must not be delayed and that all appropriate standards must be met, and overcrowding prevented. With the new reception facilities reportedly set to operate as closed centres, the Commissioner is concerned that this will lead to large-scale and long-term deprivation of liberty. The Commissioner also ‘urge[d] the Greek authorities to reconsider the closed nature of these centres, in order to ensure that the regime applicable to these facilities safeguards the freedom of movement of their residents, in line with the relevant Council of Europe standards.’ She further reiterated that ‘the policy of containment of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants on the Aegean islands lies at the heart of many of the long-standing problems Greece has experienced in protecting the rights of these persons’.724 Despite these urgings, as reported by GCR and Oxfam in a joint submission to the EU Ombudsman in March 2023,725 ‘[t]he confinement of asylum applicants appears to be a primary objective in the new EUfunded sites [i.e. CCACs]’, with several measures leading to the deprivation of applicants’ liberty. The joint submission was made following the EU Ombudsman’s opening of an own-initiative inquiry to assess how the European Commission ensures respect for fundamental rights in EU-funded migration management facilities in Greece.726 Failure to comply with the geographical restriction has serious consequences, including Detention of Asylum Seekers, as applicants apprehended outside their assigned island are – arbitrarily – placed in pre-removal detention for the purpose of returning to their assigned island. They may also be subject to criminal charges under Article 182 of the Criminal Code. Moreover, access to asylum is also restricted to those who have not complied with the geographical restriction since, according to the practice of the Asylum Service, their applications are not lodged outside the area of the geographical restriction and/or the applicant in case he or she has already lodged an application, cannot renew the asylum seeker card and the examination is interrupted. 724 725 726 Council of Europe, ‘Greek authorities should investigate allegations of pushbacks and ill-treatment of migrants, ensure an enabling environment for NGOs and improve reception conditions’, 3 May 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3fpRIOC. GCR and Oxfam, Contribution to the European Ombudsman's own-initiative inquiry OI/3/2022 MHZ on how the European Commission ensures respect for fundamental rights in EU-funded migration management facilities in Greece, 9 March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3CjEbnT, 3. For more, see EU Ombudsman, ‘How the European Commission ensures respect for fundamental rights in EU-funded migration management facilities in Greece’, Case OI/3/2022/MHZ - Opened on Monday, 11 July 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/43bmmDb. 157