Author
Overview of statistical practice
Since February 2020, the authorities have suspended the publication of statistical information by the Asylum Service, previously made available on a monthly basis. Limited information on the asylum procedure is made available in the form of monthly reports by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. Moreover, there are substantial disparities between figures presented by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum monthly reports and Eurostat, pointing for example to respective first instance recognition rates of 44% and 69% for the first half of 2020.[1] At the same time, transparency and publication obligations imposed by Greek law on administrative bodies such as the Appeals Authority remain ‘dead letter’ to date. The Appeals Authority has never published quarterly activity reports pursuant to Article 4(3) L 4375/2016, in which it should include statistics on appeals lodged, the percentage of cases processed in written and oral procedures, processing times of appeals, recognition rates, applications for annulment lodged against Appeals Committee decisions, applications for legal aid and beneficiaries of legal aid.[2]
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance in 2020
| Applicants in 2020 | Pending applications at the end of 2020 | Refugee status | Subsidiary protection | Rejection (on the merits) | Total number of 1st instance decisions/acts[3] | Refugee rate | Subs. Prot. rate | Rejection rate | |
| Total | 40,559 | 57,347[4] | 26,371 | 7,954 | 22,821 | 81,052 | 33% | 10% | 28% |
| Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers: | |||||||||
| Afghanistan | 11,514 | 19,327 | 4,606 | 6,164 | 5,494 | 2,330 | 28.3% | 37.9% | 33.8% |
| Syria | 7,768 | 5,563 | 13,478 | 2 | 1,232 | 3,716 | 91.6% | 0.01% | 8.4% |
| Pakistan | 4,146 | 4,711 | 99 | 9 | 4,061 | 917 | 2.4% | 0.2% | 97.4% |
| DR Congo | 1,929 | 3,546 | 562 | 77 | 1,413 | 113 | 27.4% | 3.8% | 68.9% |
Source: Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Yearly Report 2020, published in January 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3uBkAJC and Information provided by the Asylum Service, 31 March 2021
Gender/age breakdown of the total number of applicants: 2020
| Number | Percentage | |
| Total number of applicants | 40,559 | 100% |
| Men | 27,807 | 68.56% |
| Women | 12,752 | 31.44% |
| Children | 14,490 | 35.73% |
| Unaccompanied children | 2,799 | 6.9% |
Source: Information provided by the Asylum Service, 31 March 2021.
The figures on children and unaccompanied children are part of the figures on men and women.
Comparison between first instance and appeal in-merit decision rates: 2020
| First instance | Appeal | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Total number of decisions | 81,052 | 100 | 25,011 | 100 |
| Positive decisions | 34,325 | 42.35% | 1,045 | 4.2% |
| Refugee status | 26,371 | 33% | 481 | 1.92% |
| Subsidiary protection | 7,954 | 10% | 564 | 2.26% |
| Referral for humanitarian status | Not applicable | Not applicable | 370 | 1.48% |
| Negative decisions (in merits) | 22,821 | 28% | 15,751 | 63% |
Source: Asylum Service 31/03/2021; Appeals Authority 09/02/2021.
The remaining decisions taken by the Appeals Committees concerned appeals rejected as inadmissible on formal grounds (53 cases) or due to the application of the concept of safe third country or appeals filed after the expiry of the deadline etc.[5]
[1] RSA, ‘Majority of asylum seekers in need of international protection, according to Eurostat first instance asylum statistics’, 3 September 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/391WC2L.
[2]RSA, ‘Asylum statistics for 2020 should be published and unpacked’, 15 July 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3fgR7yn.
[3]It concerns: refugee status recognition, subsidiary protection, rejection on the merits, inadmissibility decisions, act of discontinuation, filing of a case without further action,
[4] Information provided by the Asylum Service, 31 March 2021. However, according to the official statistics of the Asylum Service the pending applications at the end of 2020 were 76,335; see Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Yearly Report 2020, published in January 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3uBkAJC
[5] Information provided by the Appeals Authority, 9 February 2021.