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Article 12B-ter of the Refugee Law defines safe country of origin with reference to the recast Asylum Procedures Directive. This includes countries set out in a common EU list,[1] as well as the possibility to designate additional countries based on a range of sources of information, as per Article 37 of the recast Asylum Procedures Directive. The “safe country of origin” concept may be used as a ground for channelling the application in the accelerated procedure.[2]
The safe country of origin was used for the first time in mid-2019 with the issuance of a Ministerial Decision designating Georgia. This initiated, also for the first time, the use of accelerated procedures to examine asylum applications submitted by Georgians (see Accelerated Procedure).[3] The new list, increasing the number of safe countries of origin from 1 to 21, was published in May 2020,[4] with the intention to utilise accelerated procedures widely. However, in practice it was not used as much as expected.[5] In May 2021, the number of countries listed as safe was once again increased from 21 to 29.[6] From what was observed, however, there was no significant increase in the use of accelerated procedures.[7] In May 2022 the countries listed as safe was reduced to 27 as Ukraine and Kosovo were removed.[8] From September 2022 onwards the use of accelerated procedures has increased significantly, focusing mostly on nationalities such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and to a lesser extent Nigeria.
[1] While the recast Asylum Procedures Directive currently provides no legal basis for an EU list, this could be done through the adoption of the Commission proposal for a Regulation establishing a common EU list of safe countries of origin.
[2] Article 12Δ(1) Refugee Law.
[3] Ministerial Decision on Safe Countries, available in Greek at: http://bit.ly/37YKdbU.
[4] Ministerial Decision on Safe Countries, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3CjDCJQ.
[5] Based on information provided by Cyprus Refugee Council.
[6] Ministerial Decision on Safe Countries, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3tyT40M. The countries included in the updated list are:1. Egypt; 2. Albania; 3. Algeria; 4. Armenia; 5. Vietnam; 6. Northern Macedonia; 7. Bosnia and Herzegovina; 8. Georgia; 9. Gambia; 10. Ghana; 11. India; 12. Kenya; 13. Kosovo; 14. Morocco; 15. Montenegro; 16. Mongolia; 17. Moldova; 18. Bangladesh; 19. Benin; 20. Nepal; 21. Nigeria; 22. Ukraine (excluding Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk regions); 23. Pakistan; 24. Senegal; 25. Serbia; 26. Sri Lanka; 27. Togo; 28. Tunisia; 29. Philippines..
[7] Based on cases reviewed by the Cyprus Refugee Council.
[8] Ministerial Decision on Safe Countries, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3JongDw. The countries included in the updated list are:1. Egypt; 2. Albania; 3. Algeria; 4. Armenia; 5. Vietnam; 6. Northern Macedonia; 7. Bosnia and Herzegovina; 8. Georgia; 9. Gambia; 10. Ghana; 11. India; 12. Kenya; 13. Morocco; 14. Montenegro; 15. Mongolia; 16. Moldova; 17. Bangladesh; 18. Benin; 19. Nepal; 20. Nigeria; 21. Pakistan; 22. Senegal; 23. Serbia; 24. Sri Lanka; 25. Togo; 26. Tunisia; 27. Philippines, available at: https://bit.ly/42jOTpX