A/HRC/16/52/Add.4 afraid to file an asylum claim in fear of being detained longer as a consequence. Further, many did not file a claim believing that this would deprive them of seeking asylum in another EU member State where the chances of success are higher. 62. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern the Readmission Agreement with Turkey facilitating the deportation of aliens to its neighbouring countries.40 The lack of any automatic individual assessment by Greek police, prosecutors or judges whether citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq or the Syrian Arab Republic face a serious risk of being deported by Turkish authorities to their countries of origin, constitutes a violation of the principle of non-refoulement under articles 3 of the Convention Against Torture, 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 63. In view of the serious flaws in accessing protection in Greece, the legal amendments foreseen by the draft Presidential Decree on the procedure to grant refugee status or subsidiary protection to third-country nationals and stateless persons, which was signed by the Minister of Citizen’s Protection on 24 September 2010, is to be welcomed. It foresees a new timeframe for the issuance of asylum decisions – the accelerated process taking three months and the normal process six months. Furthermore, the asylum procedure will be handed over to Refugee Committees comprised of qualified civil authorities.41 In regions with a large concentration of third-country nationals, 13 police departments will examine asylum claims decentralizing the examination procedure. The independent Appeals Board will be reinstated as a second-instance procedure in which the police will not participate. In the meantime, there was supposed to be a procedure in place to deal with the transitional period in between the old and new systems, however, this transitional period has been extended for over one year. 2. Detention 64. The Special Rapporteur has witnessed that asylum-seekers arrested at the borders of Greece are principally treated in the same manner as migrants. Most asylum applications were initiated after the refugee had been arrested and deportation ordered, which suspended the execution of the deportation order, but had no bearing on the detention order. Thus, asylum-seekers are equally systematically subjected to detention which may last until their asylum procedure has been concluded or the maximum of six or 18 months. The systematic detention of asylum-seekers constitutes a violation of article 5 of ECHR. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the Government’s plans to reform the system of detention, which includes plans to detain asylum-seekers for no longer than 15 days before they are transferred to open reception centres. 3. Living conditions 65. The Special Rapporteur has been informed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that reception conditions for asylum-seekers do not meet their most basic needs. There are only 865 reception places available for thousands of asylum seekers. The level of medical and educational services provided for asylum-seekers 40 41 16 According to official statistics provided by UNHCR, in regard to the implementation of the Readmission Protocol from January to June 2010 of third-country nationals deported, 238 were from Iraq. Members of these Committees will include one civil servant of the Ministry of Interior or Justice, one representative of UNHCR and a refugee and human rights lawyer selected by the Minister from a list submitted by the National Committee for Human Rights.