Author
Withdrawal or non-renewal of refugee status is provided under Article 13 of the Asylum Code, where the person:
- Ceases to be a refugee according to Article 10 of the Asylum Code
- Should have been excluded from refugee status according to Article 11 Asylum Code;
- The use of false or withheld information, including the use of false documents, was decisive in the grant of refugee status;
- Is reasonably considered to represent a threat to national security;[1] or
- Constitutes a threat to society following a final conviction for a particularly serious crime.
Without prejudice to the obligation of the refugee to disclose any relevant information and to produce any relevant document available to him/her, in accordance with para. 1 of Article 3 of the Code, the determining authority shall demonstrate on an individual basis that the person concerned has ceased to be a refugee or has never been a refugee.[2]
Under Article 18 of the Asylum Code, subsidiary protection may be withdrawn in case of:
- cessation under Article 15 of the Asylum Code;
- a beneficiary should have been excluded from subsidiary protection status according to Article 16(1) and (2) of the Asylum Code;
- it is established that the person has provided false information, or omitted information, decisive to the grant of protection.
In case of withdrawals, the beneficiaries of international protection:[3]
- are informed in writing by the competent authority at least fifteen (15) working days before the re-examination of his/her international protection, as well as for the reasons of the re-examination,
- are entitled to submit a written statement to the competent authority, invoking the reasons why he or she considers that the status granted should not be withdrawn.
It is noted that in case of withdrawal, individuals have the right to submit an administrative appeal before the Appeals Committee within 30 days from the service of the decision,[4] and in case of rejection, they may lodge an onward Application for Annulment before the competent Administrative Court within 30 days.[5] Moreover, according to article 97(2) and 99(4) of the Asylum Code, if an appeal is submitted against a decision of revocation, the residence permit is returned to the appellant.
In October 2020, a recognised refugee from Senegal since 2014 (victim of female genital mutilation, forced marriage and sexual violence), submitted an application for the renewal of her residence permit and her three children before the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police. A year later, in November 2021, their renewal application was rejected based on the applicable at that time JMD 778/20.01.2021[6] pursuant to which Senegal was included in the list of safe countries of origin, without any individualised assessment and prior hearing. In December 2022, their appeal, submitted in December 2021, was examined by the 1st Appeals Committee. In March 2023, their appeal was rejected and their refugee status was revoked.[7] During 2021-2023 the refugee and her children had no access to the labour market, social security and healthcare, since they only hold a certificate that they had lodged an appeal against their revocation decision. In June 2023, following the negative decision, they lodged an Application for Annulment before the Administrative Court of Athens, which is going to examined on June 2023.
Contrary to the above, in a similar case of a recognised refugee from Senegal, since 2016 (victim of forced marriage and sexual violence), the outcome was different. The refugee submitted an application for the renewal of her residence permit and her two children before the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police. In September 2022, their renewal application was rejected based on the applicable at that time JMD 78391/10.02.2022,[8] pursuant to which Senegal was included in the list of safe countries of origin, without any individualised assessment and prior hearing. In September 2023, their appeal, submitted in November 2022, was examined by the 13rd Appeals Committee.[9] In October 2023, a positive decision on their appeal was issued and their residence permits were renewed. The decision of the 13th Committee had no retroactive effect and left a one-year-gap in her residence permit, not allowing the refugee to apply for the Greek citizenship through the naturalisation procedure since her stay in the country is not considered legal and permanent for the years 2022-2023. During these years, the refugee and her children had no access to the labour market, social security and healthcare.
Furthermore, revocation of international protection status can take place in cases of national security concerns, as analysed above. In a case of a Syrian refugee, who had been granted refugee status in 2017 due to his political beliefs imputed to him as a conscientious objector, his status was revoked on the grounds of national security. In August 2022, i.e., after almost six (6) years of legally residing in Greece, the applicant received a summons following the issuance of a classified document, on the basis of which his asylum status might be revoked because he was considered to be “a danger to the national security of the country” (art. 13 para. 4a, Law 4939/2022). In September 2022, decision of the Returns and Revocations Directorate, Revocations and Exclusions Department of the Asylum Service, was served to the refugee, pursuant to which his international protection status was revoked, his residence permit and travel document recalled, and he was ordered to return to Syria. In October 2022, the refugee filed an appeal before the Appeals Authority. However, his appeal was rejected in March 2023 by the 9th Appeal Committee,[10] despite the fact that at no stage of the administrative procedure, had he been informed of the substantive content of the reasons for the revocation of his refugee status which deprived him of the effective exercise of the right to an effective remedy, hearing, and defense, as well as the procedural guarantees provided in Article 23(1) of Directive 2013/32/EU. The refugee filed an Application for Annulment and Suspension before the Administrative Court of Athens. As his application was rejected, he lodged a request for interim measure (Rule 39) before the ECtHR. Interim measures were granted by the Court in December 2023 and the application was lodged in February 2024.
In an essentially identical case, i.e., in the case of revocation of the refugee status of a Syrian national by virtue of classified documents, the 3rd Appeals Committee issued a decision, annulling the revocation decision of the Regional Asylum Office of Alimos, after first disclosing the essential content of the file to the applicant through the questions posed to him during the oral hearing, in compliance with national and EU law and the relevant case law of CJEU (C-300/11, ZZ, 4 June 2013), and concluding that access to the substantive content of the administrative file is essential for the applicant’s right to defense, which is in turn a prerequisite for the exercise of an effective remedy.[11]
Moreover, in an identical case of revocation of the refugee status of a Syrian national pursuant to classified documents, the 12th Appeals Committee issued a decisionannulling the revocation decision of the Office of the Returns and Revocations Directorate, Revocations and Exclusions Department of the Asylum Service. In particular the Appeals Committee found that there were no national security reasons, taking into account, inter alia, that the Committee itself never had full access to the classified documents/information itself despite having requested it. Instead, the Committee had access only to a document from the Asylum Service, which according to the Committee, was not sufficient in order for the refugee to be considered danger for the national security.[12]
The procedure described in Cessation is applicable to withdrawal cases.
On 12 April 2021, the Asylum Service issued a new circular providing clarifications on the procedure regarding the provision of an opinion on the grounds of exclusion and revocation of the status of international protection prescribed by article 91 IPA, as well as the renewal of residence permits (art. 2 IPA).[13] Μoreover, on 14 February 2022, the Asylum Service issued a new circular providing clarification on the commission of a serious crime and its consequences for granting and withdrawal of international protection status.[14]
According to a document presented by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum during parliamentary control on 17 February 2022, the Asylum Service revoked 19 international protection statuses in 2021, out of which 17 concerned refugee status and 2 were subsidiary protection statuses. In 14 out of 19 cases, the international protection status was revoked due to public security reasons.[15] Six revocation decisions were issued by the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police (“old procedure”).[16] Only 17 decisions of revocation of international protection statuses under the “old procedure” were issued in 2022 according to the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police.[17] However, for 2022 data was not provided by the Asylum Service that is competent for the largest number of beneficiaries of international protection residing in Greece.
Data on withdrawal of protection status decisions have since not been provided by the MoMA, even though GCR has requested it on a yearly basis. Instead, following the latest such request sent by GCR in January 2024, the MoMA replied by referring GCR to the Ministry’s website “and in particular at the link: https://migration.gov.gr/statistika/ [where] the monthly newsletters are published, alongside relevant annexes, which include summary and detailed statistical data on the work of the First Reception Service, the Asylum Service and the Appeals Authority […]”.[18] Yet, a closer look at the public sources referred by the MoMA highlights that the specific data is not available.
However, in response to GCR’s request, the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police provided, among others, data on revocation decisions. In particular, during 2023, were issued 10 decisions for the revocation of refugee status while no decision was issued for the revocation of subsidiary protection status.[19]
[1] The Asylum Service issued a Circular on 14 February 2022, concerning the cases where committing a serious crime is a ground for withdrawal or non-renewal of international protection status. See Asylum Service, Circular, prot. no. 87206, 14 February 2022, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/2p8yxa2u, pp. 14 – 15.
[2] Article 13(2) Asylum Code.
[3] Article 96(2) Asylum Code.
[4] Article 97(1)(a) Asylum Code.
[5] Article 115 Asylum Code.
[6] JMD 778/20.01.2021, Gov. Gazette B’ 317/29.01.2021.
[7] Decision 180064/28.03.2023 of the 1st Independent Appeals Committee.
[8] JMD 78391/10.02.2022, Gov. Gazette Β’ 667/15-02-2022.
[9] Decision no. IP/159138/02.10.2023 of the 13rd Independent Appeals Committee.
[10] Decision no. 186250/30.03.2023 of the 9th Independent Appeals Committee.
[11] Decision no. 403061/11.07.2022 of the 3rd Independent Appeals Committee.
[12] Decision no. IΡ/14902/09.01.2024 of the 12th Independent Appeals Committee.
[13] MoMA, 3716/12-4-21, Διευκρινίσεις – ορισμός διαδικασίας σχετικά με την παροχή γνώμης περί συνδρομής ή μη συνδρομής λόγων αποκλεισμού, την ανάκληση καθεστώτος διεθνούς προστασίας του αρ. 91 ν.4636/2019, καθώς και την ανανέωση των αδειών διαμονής του αρ. 24 ν.4636/2019, μετά τη θέση σε ισχύ του ΠΔ 106/2020, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3niHX8J.
[14] MoMA, 87206/14.02.2022, Διάπραξη σοβαρού εγκλήματος και οι συνέπειές της στη χορήγηση και ανάκληση του καθεστώτος διεθνούς προστασίας, 14 February 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3IeaaYQ.
[15] MoMA, 97157/17.2.2022, Θ Έ Μ Α: Κοινοβουλευτικός Έλεγχος ΣΧΕΤΙΚΆ: Η υπ’ αριθμ. Πρωτ. 2608/24-1-2022 Ερώτηση, 17 February 2022, available in Greek: https://bit.ly/3D4TKPw.
[16] Information provided by the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police, 25 February 2022.
[17] Information provided by the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police, 13 February 2023.
[18] MoMA, Analysis and Studies Office, Reply to GCR’s request for information for the preparation of the updated Annual Report on Greece for 2023 in the framework of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) project, received on 14 February 2024 (protocol number: 55259).
[19] Reply of Headquarters of the Hellenic Police, Statistics – AIDA REPORT on GREECE 2020, prot. no.: 1016/125-300109/16.02.2024.