ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ: ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

Maria Dimitrakopoulou 163 Information Database (AIDA), this filtering process ‘can be simplistic and mislead- ing’ and may raise the risk of refoulement 50 . Initially, the hotspot approach has been closely linked to relocation, in order to relieve the pressure on frontline States (Italy and Greece) and it has been used in different contexts as both a preliminary registration and filtering mechanism for irregular arrivals and a containment approach limiting access to mainland Europe. Since its introduction, the EU – Turkey Statement has altered fundamentally their function, rendering the hotspots a long-term part of EU border policy. 51 IV. The situation in the Greek islands - Hotspots in Greece The hotspot approach, as already mentioned, was conceived as an immediate re- sponse to a major migratory crisis and had to be implemented under very chal- lenging and changing circumstances, during 2015, when a total 876,232 people arrived in Greece. 52 Five hotspots were inaugurated in Greece, coordinated by the EU Regional Task Force headquarters in Piraeus. Up until 3 April 2016, when L 4375/2016 was adopt- ed, no dedicated national legislation existed to regulate the establishment and function of hotspots and the procedures taking place therein. By 4 March 2016, when the European Commission published the 3 rd Progress Report on the Implementation of the Hotspot Approach, none of the four initial hotspots in Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Leros was fully operational. 53 In addition, the EU - Turkey Statement, which came into effect on 20 March 2016, are placed under a 50. Asylum Information Database (AIDA), Admissibility, responsibility and safety in Euro- pean asylum procedures, September 2016, 6. 51. The European Commission recently noted: ‘The hotspot approach has shown itself to be a flexible and useful EU instrument that can be adapted to any Member State in the same situation. Based on the lessons learned in Greece and Italy, the Commission will present later in the autumn guidelines, including a template for standard operating procedures on how to set up and use hotspots in case of disproportionate migratory pressure at the external border of any Member State.’ European Commission, Communication on the Delivery of the European Agenda on Migration, 27 September 2017, 12. 52. Hellenic Police, Statistics: Arrests of Irregular Migrants in Greek Turkish land and sea borders , available in Greek at: http://www.astynomia.gr/images/stories/2015/ statistics15/allodapwn/12_statistics_all_2015_et.png. 53. European Commission, Third Progress report on the implementation of the hotspot approach in Greece, COM(2016) 131, 4 March 2016, available at: https://ec.europa. eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda- migration/proposal-implementation-package/docs/communication_20160304_ progress_report_on_the_implementation_of_the_hotspots_in_greece_en.pdf .