Ghana, Gambia, India, Morocco, Bangladesh, Benin, Nepal, Ukraine, Pakistan, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia. In December 2022, Ukraine, after almost one year of war, was finally removed from the national list of safe countries of origin 3.2. Personal interview Indicators: Admissibility Procedure: Personal Interview Same as regular procedure 1. Is a personal interview of the asylum seeker in most cases conducted in practice in the admissibility procedure? Yes No ❖ If so, are questions limited to nationality, identity, travel route? Depends on grounds ❖ If so, are interpreters available in practice, for interviews? Yes No 2. Are interviews conducted through video conferencing? Frequently Rarely Never The conduct of an interview on the admissibility procedure varies depending on the admissibility ground examined. According to Article 94(2) Asylum Code, as a rule, no interview should be held during the preliminary examination of a subsequent application. The examination of a subsequent application takes place only through written submissions and submitted documents together with the elements of the first asylum application. The interview is conducted only if the subsequent application for asylum is deemed admissible (see section on Subsequent Applications). As regards the process for Dublin cases, see section on Dublin. Personal interviews in cases examined under the “safe third country” concept focus on the circumstances that the applicants face in Türkiye. More specifically, focus is put on: ❖ whether they have asked for international protection in Türkiye and; ❖ if not, which reasons prevented them from doing so; ❖ whether they have family and friends in Türkiye; ❖ how long they remained in Türkiye; ❖ if they had access to work, housing, education and health care; ❖ and in general, if Türkiye is a safe country for them. Since 1 January 2020, it is possible for the admissibility interview to be carried out by personnel of EUAA or, in particularly urgent circumstances, trained personnel of the Hellenic Police or the Armed Forces. The training needs to be in international human rights law, EU Law on Asylum and the procedures for conducting interviews.374 Such personnel are not allowed to wear military or law enforcement uniforms during interviews.375 However, EUAA caseworkers do not draft Opinions on cases where the JMD 42799/2021 designating Türkiye as a safe third country applied, as it fell outside their competence. The number of concluding remarks issued by EUAA decreased to 5,071 in 2022, almost half of those issued in 2021 (9,230). This is due to the fact that, following the new Joint Ministerial Decision designating Türkiye as a safe third country for applicants from five of the most common countries of origin in Greece, the drafting of concluding remarks by EUAA caseworkers is no longer required for a large share of cases, that is those examined on admissibility.376 Instead, EUAA caseworkers, following the interview, can send to Asylum Service caseworkers an annex with notes and comments on crucial issues to be taken into consideration. Different practices were adopted by the various RAOs in the different islands in 2022 as regards to the conduct of asylum interviews. In Kos the asylum interviews were conducted with the physical presence of the caseworkers and usually an interpreter was also present. However, in certain cases the interpreter was only present through teleconference. In Lesvos interviews were carried out both in person and 374 375 376 Article 82(1) Asylum Code. Article 82(12) (c) Asylum Code. Information provided by the EUAA, 28 February 2023. 85