Article 91(5) Asylum Code, incorporating Article 38(4) of the Asylum Procedures Directive, provides that where the third country in question does not allow the applicant to enter its territory, his/her application shall be examined on the merits by the Competent Examination Authorities. The examination of the safe third country concept in practice used to take place under the scope of the fast-track border procedure since 2016. More specifically, up until June 2021 it was applied exclusively to Syrians who fell under the EU Türkiye Statement, namely those who had entered Greece via the Greek Aegean islands and who were subject to a geographical restriction. Syrians whose geographical limitation was lifted were then channelled to the mainland and were examined under the regular procedure. The situation changed significantly in 2021 following the Joint Ministerial Decision issued on 7 June 2021, designating Türkiye as a safe third country for asylum applicants coming from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.363 Apart from the numerous concerns that have been repeatedly raised as to whether Türkiye should be considered a “safe third country” for the abovementioned asylum seekers in Greece, 364 an additional significant element of the unfeasibility of this new decision concerns the fact that Türkiye has not been accepting any readmissions from Greece since March 2020 .365 As a consequence, refugees whose applications have been/are rejected as inadmissible based on the “safe third country” concept end up in a state of limbo in Greece, exposed to a direct risk of destitution and detention, without access to an inmerit examination of their application and without the possibility to lodge a subsequent asylum application. The Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission has reiterated several times the importance of examining the merits of these applications for international protection, in accordance with EU law.366 On 7 December 2021, the Commissioner issued a response to a joint open letter by civil society organisations, where she reiterated the Commission’s continued concerns over individuals left in “legal limbo” in Greece. 367 As she stated, “in line with Article 38(4) of the Asylum Procedures Directive, the Greek authorities should ensure that applicants whose applications have been declared inadmissible under the Joint Ministerial Decision and who are not being admitted to Türkiye should be given access to the in-merits asylum procedure”.368 According to the UNHCR’s position and recommendations on the Safe Third Country declaration by Greece:369 ‘The absence of a mutually agreed readmission arrangement or delay in the implementation elevates the risk of protracted detention and situations of legal limbo for those concerned who may not be readmitted, increasing human misery and in all likelihood, fuelling further onward movement within the EU. Where cooperation is not mutually agreed to, or required protection safeguards are not in place, an in-merit examination of asylum claims of applicants of those nationality groups should take place without undue delay to avoid legal limbo situations.’ According to Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament ‘Responding to repeated requests from the Greek authorities and the European Commission regarding the resumption of return operations, Türkiye has stated that no return operation would take place unless 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 Joint Ministerial Decision (JMD) 42799/2021, Gov. Gazette 2425/Β/7-6-2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3KBM4HG. Indicatively see: GCR, Greece deems Türkiye ‘safe’, but refugees are not: The substantive examination of asylum applications is the only safe solution for refugees, 14 June 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3E3qgCe. For instance see: MoMA, 28-07-2021, New request from Greece for the return of 1.908 illegal economic migrants to Türkiye : https://bit.ly/3rl5bhy; European Commission, Commission Staff Working Document: Türkiye 2020 Report, 6 October 2020, https://bit.ly/3xgt4aK, 48. Answers given by Ms Johansson on behalf of the European Commission, EN P-000604/2021, 1 June 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3M01UMo; E-003875/2021, 18 October 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3uxkTbg; E004131/2021, 21 December 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3KuohcB. Joint Open Letter, Denying food: instead of receiving protection people go hungry on EU soil, available at: https://bit.ly/3uyeEEb. Ylva Johansson, Ares S(2021)8048555, 7 December 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3Jyt7V4. UNHCR’s Position and Recommendations on the Safe Third Country Declaration by Greece, 2 August 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3EuyKm1. 83