Author
Cessation of international protection is regulated by Articles 10 and 15 of Asylum Code.
A third-country national or stateless person ceases to be a refugee if they:[1]
- Voluntarily re-avail themselves of the protection of the country of origin;
- Voluntarily re-acquire the nationality they had previously lost;
- Have obtained a new nationality and benefit from that country’s protection;
- Have voluntarily re-established themselves in the country they had fled or outside of which they had resided for fear of persecution;
- May no longer deny the protection of the country of origin where the conditions leading to their recognition as a refugee have ceased to exist.
- in the case of a stateless person, are able to return to the country of former habitual residence because the circumstances which led to their qualification as a refugee have ceased to exist.
With regard to the provisions of article (10)(1)(e) and (f), the change of circumstances must be substantial and durable.[2] Also, the aforementioned provisions shall not apply to a refugee who is in a position to invoke compelling reasons arising from previous persecution to refuse the protection afforded to him/her by the country of origin or, in case of a stateless person, by the country of his/her former habitual residence.[3]
Furthermore, a third-country national or stateless person shall cease to be entitled to subsidiary protection when the circumstances which led to the recognition of their status have ceased to exist or when those circumstances have changed to such an extent that the protection granted is no longer necessary.[4] In this context, it is examined whether the change of circumstances is of such a substantial and non-temporary nature that the beneficiary of subsidiary protection no longer faces a real risk of suffering serious harm.[5] However, the cessation shall not apply to a beneficiary of subsidiary protection who is in a position to invoke compelling reasons arising from a previous serious harm to refuse the protection afforded to him by his country of nationality or, in the case of a stateless person, by his country of former habitual residence.[6]
Where cessation proceedings are initiated, the beneficiary is informed at least 15 days before the review of the criteria for international protection and may submit their views on why protection should not be withdrawn.[7] This provision is always respected by the Asylum Service. However, according to GCR knowledge, the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police,[8] does not apply this provision in practice. It does not give the beneficiaries the right to a prior hearing either in written or oral form. The beneficiary is only notified of the cessation decision. In case of negative decisions of 1st instance issued either by the Asylum Service or the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police, the beneficiaries of international protection have the right to lodge an appeal before the Appeals Authority within thirty days from the service of the negative decision. However, according to the above, the beneficiaries of international protection for whom the competent authority is the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police, in practice are deprived of a degree jurisdiction, since they are never heard at 1st instance. As these beneficiaries do not have an Asylum Service case number, but instead a Police Headquarters file number, they have to wait months until their case is given an asylum service case number so that their appeal can be examined by the Appeals Authority.
In 2023, GCR observed a number of cessation decisions concerning beneficiaries of the so-called “old procedure’’. Beneficiaries whose countries of origin were included in the list of safe countries of origin by Joint Ministerial Decisions were served with decisions of a few paragraphs long without an individualised assessment, citing only the Joint Ministerial Decision as reasoning.
In the meantime, all beneficiaries of international protection are provided, either by the Asylum Service or the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police, with a certificate proving they have filed an appeal, which, however, does not give them access to the labour market, health care, or social assistance system. In fact, it only offers them protection from detention.
Where the person appeals the decision, contrary to the Asylum Procedure, the Appeals Committee is required to hold an oral hearing of the beneficiary in cessation cases.[9]
[1] Article 10(1) Asylum Code.
[2] Article 10(2) Asylum Code.
[3] Article 10(3) Asylum Code.
[4] Article 15(1) Asylum Code.
[5] Article 15(2) Asylum Code.
[6] Article 15(3) Asylum Code.
[7] Article 96 (2) Asylum Code
[8] The Headquarters of the Hellenic Police is competent for beneficiaries of international protection who applied for international protection before the start of Asylum Service’s operation.
[9] Article 102(3) Asylum Code.