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. Disparities continue to persist between figures provided by the Greek government to Eurostat and actual practice. Eurostat continues to report zero figures for withdrawals of international protection in Greece, even though withdrawal decisions have in fact been taken by the Asylum Service based on cases followed by GCR and other NGOs working on the field. A similar issue is reported vis-à-vis decisions in the accelerated procedure pursuant to Article 31(8) of the recast Asylum Procedures Directive.
The Appeals Authority has still not 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.[1] However, some figures on the appeal procedure are included in the monthly statistical reports of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum.
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance in 2021:
| Applicants in 2021 | Pending applications at the end of 2021 | Refugee status | Subsidiary protection | Rejection (on the merits)[2] | Refugee rate | Subs. Prot. rate | Rejection rate (on the merits) | ||
| Total | 28,320 | 31,787 | 13,051 | 3,537 | 10,991 | 47.3% | 12.9% | 39.9% | |
| Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers: | |||||||||
| Afghanistan | 4,618 | 1,568 | 3,879 | 2,772 | – | – | – | – | |
| Pakistan | 4,273 | 1,433 | 114 | 6 | – | – | – | – | |
| Syria | 3,870 | 1,599 | 3,087 | 3 | – | – | – | – | |
| Bangladesh | 2,731 | 1,589 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Turkey | 1,923 | 1,961 | 364 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| Iraq | 1,622 | 438 | 1,531 | 293 | – | – | – | – | |
| Somalia | 1,541 | 594 | 749 | 244 | – | – | – | – | |
Source: MoMA, Factsheet December 2021, https://bit.ly/3tA7eA0; Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Reply to parliamentary question, 97157/2022, 17 February 2022, https://bit.ly/3HiYIsF: Information provided by the Appeals Authority, 11 March 2022.
Gender/age breakdown of the total number of applicants: 2021
| Number | Percentage | |
| Total number of applicants | 28,320 | 100% |
| Men | 15,665 | 55.3% |
| Women | 4,210 | 14.8% |
| Minors (also unaccompanied) | 8,445 | 29.8% |
Source: Source: MoMA, Factsheet December 2021, https://bit.ly/3tA7eA0.
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: 2021
| First instance | Appeal | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Total number of decisions on the merits | 10,991 | 100 | 11,059 | 100 |
| Positive decisions | 16,588 | 60.22% | 1,863 | 16.84% |
| Refugee status | 13,051 | 47.3% | 730 | 6.60% |
| Subsidiary protection | 3,537 | 12.9% | 1,133 | 10.24% |
| Negative decisions (in merits) | 10,991 | 39.9% | 9,196 | 83.15% |
Source: MoMA, Factsheet December 2021, https://bit.ly/3tA7eA0; Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Reply to parliamentary question, 97157/2022, 17 February 2022, https://bit.ly/3HiYIsF; Appeals Authority, Information provided on 11 March 2022.
[1] RSA, ‘Asylum statistics for 2020 should be published and unpacked’, 15 July 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3fgR7yn.
[2] Inadmissibility decisions (12,332) exceeded rejections on the merits (10,991) at first instance due to the wide application of the safe third country concept after the entry into force of the JMD 42799/2021.