In sum, the practice of indiscriminate imposition of the geographical restriction since the launch of the EUTürkiye Statement has for years been a risk factor, intrinsically linked with the EU’s ongoing externalisation approach, that fosters and maintains conditions of possibility for the constant (re)emergence of overcrowded, substandard reception conditions on the Greek islands. In September 2020, the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR) reiterated its firm and consistently expressed position, calling on the Greek Government to ‘review the dead-end policy with regards to the imposition of a geographical restriction on the Eastern Aegean islands and to move forward with the abolition of this onerous measure’. 982 The GNCHR also noted that regardless of circumstances, ‘any 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 applicants 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’.983 Despite these calls, which remain relevant to this day, as reported by GCR and Oxfam in a joint submission to the EU Ombudsperson in March 2023,984 ‘[t]he confinement of asylum applicants appears to be a primary objective in the new EU-funded sites [i.e. CCACs]’, with several measures leading to the deprivation of applicants’ liberty. The joint submission was made following the EU Ombudsperson’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. 985 982 983 984 985 National Commission for Human Rights, Report on the refugee and migration issue (‘Έkθεση αναφοράς για το προσφυγικό και to μεταναστευτικό ζήτημα’), September 2020, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3vuIqre, p. 44. 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, p. 3. For more, see EU Ombudsperson, 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. 187