CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 5 avril 2022

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AND OTHERS v. NORTH MACEDONIA (Applications nos. 55798/16 and 4 others)     JUDGMENT   Art 4 P4 • Prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens • Lack of individual removal decisions for migrants arriving in large groups, where genuine and effective legal entry procedures were circumvented without cogent reasons Art 13 (+ Art 4 P4) • Effective remedy • Legal possibility to challenge deportation not available to applicants through their own unlawful conduct   STRASBOURG 5 April 2022 FINAL   05/07/2022   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of A.A. and Others v. North Macedonia, The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Jon Fridrik Kjølbro, President,   Carlo Ranzoni,   Egidijus Kūris,   Branko Lubarda,   Jovan Ilievski,   Saadet Yüksel,   Diana Sârcu, judges, and Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar, Having regard to: the applications (nos.   55798/16 and four others) against the Republic of North Macedonia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by five Syrian nationals, two Iraqi nationals, and one Afghan national (“the applicants”), on the various dates indicated in the appended table; the decision to give notice to the Government of North Macedonia (“the Government”) of the complaints concerning the applicants’ immediate return from the territory of the respondent State to Greece, and the alleged lack of an effective domestic remedy in that regard; the decision not to have the applicants’ names disclosed; the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants; the comments submitted by the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association, who were granted leave to intervene by the President of the Section; Having deliberated in private on 15 March 2022, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: INTRODUCTION 1.     The present cases concern the applicants’ complaints, under Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention and Article 13 of the Convention, about their immediate return to Greece after having illegally crossed into the territory of North Macedonia in March 2016, and the alleged lack of an effective domestic remedy in that regard, respectively. THE FACTS 2.     A list of the applicants is set out in the appendix. 3.     The Government were represented by their Agent, Ms D. Djonova. The circumstances of the case 4.     The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. Background information 5.     In the course of 2014 there was a significant increase in the number of migrants, including from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, trying to reach various European Union countries. One of the routes used was the so-called “Balkan route”, which included travelling from Turkey via Greece to the then former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia [1] and then through Serbia to the European Union. Responding to the influx of refugees, countries along the route adopted a wave-through approach, by mostly permitting the migrants to pass through.   By the second half of 2015, the continued and sustained irregular migrant flows became a concern, prompting the European Union (“EU”) to address the situation. 6.     On 7 March 2016, after several meetings and talks at the EU level and involving the countries on the route, the EU Heads of State or Governments announced, inter alia , that irregular flows of migrants along the Balkan route had come to an end. 7.     On 8 March 2016 a decision entered into force not to allow the entry and controlled transit through the respondent State of migrants who were seeking to transit to Western European countries, who did not meet the requirements for entry or did not seek asylum in North Macedonia. Application no. 55798/16 8.     The applicants are a Syrian family from Aleppo. They left Syria in late 2015, and on 24 February 2016 they arrived in Idomeni, Greece, a town situated on the border with the respondent State, where a camp had been set up for refugees. They alleged that on 14 March 2016 they joined a large group of refugees (around 1,500) in what became known as “the March of Hope”, crossed the border wading across a river (the Suva Reka), and entered Macedonian territory. After a short walk, they reached a point where hundreds of refugees (at least 500) were allegedly surrounded by military personnel of North Macedonia. There were also Czech and Serbian soldiers. They spent the night in the open air. The applicants alleged that at 5 a.m. the next morning, soldiers of North Macedonia threatened the refugees, including the applicants, with violence unless they returned to Greece. The applicants walked for three to four hours and arrived back in Idomeni, Greece. Applications nos. 55808/16, 55817/16, 55820/16 and 55823/16 9.     The applicants are Afghan, Iraqi and Syrian nationals. They stated their personal circumstances including those that had made them leave their countries of origin. The applicants alleged that on 14 March 2016 they left the Idomeni camp, joined “the March of Hope”, crossed a river (the Suva Reka) and entered the territory of the respondent State. The applicant in application no. 55817/16, who is reliant on a wheelchair, wheeled himself where possible and relied on others to carry him over muddy or rocky terrain, and across the river. In Moin, a small village in the respondent State, the applicants were intercepted and surrounded by soldiers of North Macedonia, who told those gathered that if they failed to turn off their cameras and phones, they would confiscate them. The soldiers then separated out and arrested activists, journalists and volunteers (who were accompanying the refugees on the march), which prevented the ensuing actions of the State officials from being documented. The soldiers allegedly ordered the applicants to board army trucks, and drove them back to the Greek border. Some of the applicants alleged that police officers from the respondent State had been standing guard at the border fence. Others alleged that soldiers had formed two lines and ordered the refugees to run between them. The soldiers had allegedly used sticks to beat the refugees as they ran to the fence. The applicants were ordered to cross the fence to the Greek side of the border. They passed through a hole in the fence or crawled under it. Soon afterwards they returned to the camp in Idomeni, Greece. Other relevant facts Other relevant facts related to the above events 10.     The applicants submitted video footage of parts of the march and indicated themselves on the videos. The applicants in applications nos.   55798/16 and 55808/16 also provided copies of their identity documents to facilitate their identification. 11.     One of the volunteers in the Idomeni camp, A.R.M., accompanied the migrants during the march. She submitted that the soldiers of North Macedonia had shouted at media representatives to turn off their cameras or they would confiscate them. She further stated that the soldiers had kept their guns pointed at them and, when they had reached the border (she had hidden among the migrants), the soldiers had formed two lines, had made the migrants get into columns, shouting at them to walk quickly, and had guided them between the fences until they had found a hole in them. The migrants had been made to crawl through the hole and under the fence back into Greece. 12.     Foreign journalists, volunteers and the other non-migrants accompanying the march had been separated from migrants, identified, fined, expelled, and banned from entering North Macedonia for six months. Two foreign journalists confirmed that their cameras had been confiscated. 13.     On 15 March 2016 the Ministry of the Interior of North Macedonia informed the public that there had been an attempted illegal entry of migrants in the vicinity of the village of Moin. It confirmed that about 1,500 migrants had illegally crossed the State border with Greece, and that another group of about 600 people, intending to cross illegally, had also been intercepted at the border. There had been seventy-two foreign journalists with them, who had been secured and issued with travel orders, after which they had returned to Greece. The migrants who had crossed illegally had also been returned. Other relevant facts 14.     There are nineteen border crossing points and two airports in North Macedonia. The busiest border crossings are Bogorodica in the south, on the border with Greece and close to Idomeni, and Tabanovce in the north, on the border with Serbia. 15.     The walking distance between Idomeni and the Bogorodica border crossing is approximately 7.6 km. The walk between the two would take approximately one hour and thirty minutes. 16.     On 19 August 2015, because of the increased influx of migrants/refugees, the Government of North Macedonia declared a crisis situation on part of its territory, more precisely on the territory of Gevgelija (Bogorodica border crossing) and Kumanovo (Tabanovce border crossing). The Parliament later extended the crisis situation until 15 June 2016, and then until 30 June 2017. 17.     A report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued in August 2015 indicated a number of challenges in the implementation of the relevant legislation in North Macedonia, such as a limited capacity of the border officials to identify people with international protection needs, including asylum-seekers, and a lack of interpretation. Between 18 June 2015 and the end of July 2015 the authorities registered 18,750 people as having expressed their intention to seek asylum in the country, with a steady trend of some 1,000 new arrivals every day. The report noted, however, that over 90 per cent of those who had applied for asylum had left the country before the interviews were held. 18.     A Human Rights Watch report issued in September 2015 indicated that few asylum-seekers chose to apply for asylum in North Macedonia and those who did so often left the country before a decision on their application had been made. 19.     On 3 December 2015 the Večer newspaper published that in the previous 24   hours at the Bogorodica border crossing centre, 2,797 certificates of an expressed intention to seek asylum had been issued to foreign citizens, refugees and migrants.   That made a total of 300,420 certificates having been issued – 177,130 to citizens of Syria, 72,752 to citizens of Afghanistan, and 29,100 to citizens of Iraq. 20.     The Crisis Management Centre (CMC) issued a report for the period from 19 August to 31 December 2015. The report specified that in the reference period, about 640,000 migrants/refugees had entered the territory of North Macedonia.   The report further noted that between 19 June and 31   December 2015, certificates of an expressed intention to apply for asylum had been issued to a total of 388,233 foreign citizens – 216,157 Syrians, 95,691 Afghans, and 54,944 Iraqis (and the rest to various other nationalities). In the same period the Sector for Asylum in the Ministry of the Interior had received eighty-six   asylum applications (fifty-six   from Syrians, thirteen   from Afghans, and three from Iraqis). 21.     The CMC report specified that the difference between the number of migrants/refugees who had entered the State and the number to whom certificates had been issued was due to a large influx of migrants/refugees on several occasions, where there had been more than 10,000 people entering daily from Greece, and the inability of the Ministry of the Interior to register all of the people because of the limited time during which they should be provided with transit to the northern border. 22.     The report also noted, inter alia , that a reception and transit centre for refugees/migrants had been established and operated in Gevgelija (the closest town to the Bogorodica border crossing), and that a railway line for the transportation of migrants/refugees from this centre to the northern border at Tabanovce had also been arranged. It also specified that during the crisis situation, Red Cross teams and other domestic and international humanitarian and non-governmental organisations had been present at the centre and had actively participated in the distribution of humanitarian aid and the provision of basic medical services. 23.     A report of the Ministry of the Interior indicated that between 1   January and 14 March 2016, certificates of an expressed intention to apply for asylum had been issued to another 89,628 migrants – 44,634 Syrians, 26,546 Afghans and 18,337 Iraqis. The report indicated that on 14 March 2016 no certificates had been issued and no asylum applications had been made. 24.     Between 1 January and 17 March 2016, 283 applications for asylum were submitted on behalf of 314 persons. 25.     On 15 March 2016 the European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs called the situation in Idomeni “a tragedy that must not be repeated”. In April 2016 Amnesty International described the conditions in the Idomeni camp as “squalid” and “appalling”, as people had been left to sleep outside of shelters, exposed to bad weather and lacking sufficient sanitary facilities. In May 2016 UNHCR described the conditions as “abysmal”. 26.     In March 2016 the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), in a report to the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, concluded that persisting obstacles to accessing the asylum procedure in Greece left asylum-seekers at serious risk of deportation without an individual assessment of their risk of being sent to a country where there were substantial grounds for believing that they would be subject to treatment contrary to Articles 2, 3, 5 or 6 of the Convention. 27.     The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Skopje published information that between 8 and 20 March 2016 not a single certificate of an expression of intention to apply for asylum was issued, and that no refugee was registered between 21 and 27 March 2016. A UNHCR inter-agency operational update for the period between 4 and 31 March 2016 indicated that, according to the Ministry of the Interior, 979 refugees and migrants had crossed the border into North Macedonia in the reporting period, with the final arrivals on 7 March 2016. 28.     Between 4 and 17 April 2016, a total of 1449 irregular border crossings in the south of North Macedonia were prevented. 29.     Between 9 March and 31 December 2016, 477 people sought asylum, of whom 152 were Syrian nationals, 126 Afghans, and 60 Iraqis. In 2016 five people were granted asylum, one person was granted refugee status, eleven asylum requests were refused, and for 460 other requests the proceedings have been discontinued as the people who had submitted the requests had left the place where they were staying and had not attended the interview. RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK Relevant domestic law The Constitution 30.     Article 29 of the Constitution ( Устав , Official Gazette nos. 52/1991, 1/1992, 31/1998, 91/2001, 84/2003, 107/2005 and 3/2009) guarantees the right to asylum to foreigners and stateless persons persecuted for their democratic political beliefs and activities. Asylum and Temporary Protection Act 31.     The Asylum and Temporary Protection Act (“the Asylum Act”, Закон за   азил и привремена заштита ; published in the Official Gazette nos. 49/2003, 66/2007, 142/2008, 146/2009, 166/2012, 101/2015, 152/2015, 55/2016 and 71/2016) sets out, inter alia , the conditions and procedure for the granting and termination of asylum to aliens or stateless persons, and the rights and duties of asylum-seekers. On 18   June 2015 the amendments thereto entered into force. Their implementation started from the next day. 32.     Section 7 provides that the asylum-seeker, recognised refugee or person under subsidiary protection cannot be expelled, or in any manner whatsoever be forced to return to the frontiers of the state in which his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, belonging to a particular social group or political affiliation, or where he would be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 33.     Section 12 provides that the Ministry of the Interior, through its organisational unit in charge of asylum (“the Sector for Asylum”), is to implement the procedure for recognition of the right of asylum and make a decision in the first instance. Paragraph 2 of the same section provides that administrative-dispute proceedings may be initiated before the relevant court against the first-instance decision. 34.     Section 14 provides that asylum-seekers have the right to legal assistance, and explanations as regards the conditions and procedure for the recognition of the right of asylum, and the right to free legal aid at all stages of the procedure, in line with the regulations on free legal aid. 35.     Section 16(1) provides that foreign nationals at the border crossing or inside Macedonian territory may orally or in writing express an intention to submit an application for recognition of the right of asylum before a police officer of the Ministry of the Interior. Pursuant to section 16(2) the police officer will record the personal data of such a foreign national, issue a copy of the certificate for the declared intention and direct the person to submit an application for recognition of the right of asylum within 72 hours before the relevant official in the office of the Sector for Asylum in the Reception Centre for Asylum-Seekers. Should the foreign national fail to proceed in accordance with that procedure, he or she will be processed in accordance with the provisions for foreign nationals. 36.     Section 16-a provides that an asylum-seeker may apply for recognition of the right of asylum to the police at the border crossing point, the nearest police station, or at the office of the Sector for Asylum in the Reception Centre for Asylum-Seekers. If the application is submitted to the police at the border crossing point or at the nearest police station, the police officer shall escort the asylum-seeker to the Reception Centre for Asylum-Seekers. An asylum-seeker who resides within Macedonian territory shall submit an asylum application to the Sector for Asylum. In cases of family reunification, the application can be lodged in the diplomatic or consular mission of North Macedonia abroad. 37.     Section 17 provides that an asylum-seeker who has illegally entered or has been illegally staying in Macedonian territory, and is coming directly from a state where his life or freedom have been at risk, shall not be punished, provided that he or she immediately applies for the recognition of the right of asylum to the Sector for Asylum or reports himself or herself at the nearest police station and gives explanations for his or her application for recognition of the right of asylum, and valid reasons for his or her illegal entry or stay. In that case the police shall immediately escort the person to the Sector for Asylum. Aliens Act 38.     Section 3 of the Aliens Act ( Закон за странци ; Official Gazette no.   35/2006) stipulates, inter alia , that the provisions of that Act apply to all foreigners, except those who seek protection in accordance with the Asylum Act unless otherwise provided in the Aliens Act. 39.     Section 9 provides that a foreigner may enter the State and leave its territory only at designated border crossing points, at hours and in a manner in accordance with the purpose of such a border crossing point. 40.     Section 21 specifies that a foreigner’s entry into the State will be deemed unauthorised, inter alia , when he or she crosses or attempts to cross the State border outside of the designated place, or outside of the hours and manner specified for border crossings, or if he or she avoids or attempts to avoid border controls. 41.     Section 23 sets out when a foreigner may be denied entry into North Macedonia. This includes non-fulfilment of the conditions for entry into the State as set out in the Aliens Act, or an intention to pass through its territory without meeting the entry requirements of a third country, or where there is a well-founded suspicion that he or she has no intention to stay in North Macedonia for the purpose indicated. 42.     Section 25 provides that a foreigner cannot be denied entry on the basis of section 23 of the Act if, inter alia , he or she expresses an intention to apply for asylum in North Macedonia, or has lodged such an application. 43.     Sections 101-113 set out details as regards expulsion and deportation. In particular, section 101 provides that a foreigner may be expelled if, inter alia , he or she stays illegally in North Macedonia. This provision does not, however, apply to a foreigner seeking the protection of the State in accordance with the Asylum Act. Section 103 provides that the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for issuing the relevant decisions. A decision will contain the time-limit within which the foreigner in question is obliged to leave the country, and will state that if the foreigner does not leave the country within the specified period on a voluntary basis, he or she will be deported. A foreigner has a right to lodge a complaint with the relevant commission within eight days from the date on which he or she received the decision. Administrative-dispute proceedings may be initiated against the decision of the relevant commission before a court which has jurisdiction in accordance with the Administrative Disputes Act. Section 107 provides that a foreigner may not be deported to a country where his or her life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, religion or nationality, belonging to a social group or political opinion, or where he or she would be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 44.     Section 153 provides that a foreigner will be fined if he or she enters North Macedonia with no authorisation or illegally stays in the territory. A foreigner may also be expelled for these offences. Border Control Act 45.     Section 9 of the Border Control Act ( Закон за гранична контрола , Official Gazette nos.   171/2010, 41/2014, 148/2015, 55/2016 and 64/2018) provides that a State border can be crossed only at border crossings during its opening and/or working hours. 46.     Section 53 provides that the police will take measures and actions in the entire Macedonian territory with the aim of, inter alia , the discovery and suppression of illegal migration and illegal border crossing, and the prevention of cross-border crime. Relevant international material 47.     UNHCR Observations on the situation of asylum-seekers and refugees in North Macedonia, published in August 2015, note that significant progress had been made to align the national legislation framework with international standards of asylum, but substantial shortcomings still persisted when it came to implementation. There were, inter alia , concerns about access to the territory and the asylum procedure, including the processing of claims; the quality of decision-making remained inadequate, there was a lack of effective legal remedies, and access to information and interpretation were not always ensured. It concluded that the country had not as yet met the international standards for the protection of refugees and did not qualify as a safe third country. 48.     The Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on Migration and Refugees, Ambassador Tomáš Boček, had a fact-finding mission to the respondent State on 10 and 11 March 2016. He visited, inter alia , two camps, in which he reported he had been faced with very different situations. One camp near the Greek border (Gevgelija) was almost empty, while the other camp, near the Serbian border (Tabanovce), was seriously overcrowded. The population of these camps consisted of people who had been transiting through the country when the Balkan route had been closed. Very   few wished to apply for asylum there. He also reported that the border with Greece was at the time policed by officers from the respondent State and other Council of Europe member States. Refugees and migrants from the other side of the border had quite regularly tried to enter Macedonian territory and there   had been repeated reports of pushbacks, and even allegations of ill-treatment by border guards. 49.     For other relevant international documents, see N.D. and N.T. v.   Spain ([GC], nos. 8675/15 and 8697/15, §§ 53, 59-67, 13   February 2020). THE LAW JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS 50.     Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 4 of protocol no. 4 to THE CONVENTION 51.     The applicants complained that their summary deportation by the authorities of the respondent State had amounted to collective expulsion, in violation of their rights under Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention. The relevant Article reads as follows: Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 “Collective expulsion of aliens is prohibited.” The preliminary issues The applicants’ participation in the events in question 52.     The Government submitted that the applicants had failed to provide convincing prima facie evidence that they had been in the relevant groups and had been subjected to the expulsion. The videos enclosed were of poor quality, from which the people in the crowd could not be identified, and some of the applicants had not submitted any documents for their personal identification. Even if, therefore, the interviews had been conducted, the identity of each of them individually could not have been established with certainty. 53.     The applicants contested the Government’s objections. In particular, they contended that they had had no documents to prove their presence precisely because of the failure of the respondent State to issue documents to them. 54.     The Court observes significant differences in the parties’   accounts of the facts.   According to the Court’s case-law, the distribution of the burden of proof and the level of persuasion necessary for reaching a particular conclusion are intrinsically linked to the specificity of the facts, the nature of the allegation made and the Convention right at stake (see, among other authorities,   El-Masri v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia [GC], no. 39630/09, § 151, ECHR 2012).   In this context it must be borne in mind that the absence of identification and personalised treatment by the authorities of the respondent State in the present case, which has contributed to the difficulty experienced by the applicants in adducing evidence of their involvement in the events in issue, is at the very core of the applicants’   complaint. Accordingly, the Court will seek to ascertain whether the applicants have furnished prima facie evidence in support of their version of events . If that is the case, the burden of proof should shift to the Government   (ibid., §   152; see also Baka v. Hungary [GC], no. 20261/12, §   149, 23 June 2016). 55.     The Court notes that the applicants gave a coherent account of their individual circumstances, their countries of origin, the difficulties that had led them to Greece and their participation on 14 March 2016, with other migrants, in the march and illegal crossing of the land border between Greece and North Macedonia (see paragraphs   8 and 9 above), which illegal entry was immediately repelled by the respondent State’s police and army personnel. In support of their assertions the applicants provided video footage showing the migrants marching as they had described, and on which they claimed to recognise themselves. The Court further observes that the Government did not deny the existence of the summary expulsions of 14   and 15 March 2016, in fact quite the contrary (see paragraph 13 above). 56.     In such circumstances and in view of the background to the present case, the Court considers that the applicants have presented   prima facie evidence of their participation in the march and illegal entry into the respondent State on 14 March 2016, which has not been convincingly refuted by the Government.   Consequently, the Court dismisses the Government’s preliminary objection in this regard, and will presume the account of the events presented by the applicants to be truthful (see, mutatis mutandis , N.D. and N.T. , cited above, §§ 85-88, 13 February 2020). The issue of jurisdiction 57.     The Government contested the argument that they had had exclusive jurisdiction in respect of the events. Firstly, it was unclear if the video footage submitted had been filmed in the respondent State or elsewhere, and, secondly, the authorities of North Macedonia had not been the only ones involved in the actions, given that police forces from other countries had also been involved. The Government submitted that a mass influx of migrants, who had transited through the respondent State on their way to the European Union, had created serious challenges to the State’s border authorities, which had necessitated other countries’ assistance. They maintained that violent and illegal actions by migrants should not suffice per se to establish a jurisdictional obligation on the State to ensure the alleged procedural right of each and every member of the group who was acting illicitly to have their cases examined. To hold that the illegal and violent attempt to cross the State border on 14 March 2016 automatically entailed the respondent State’s jurisdiction to provide the alleged procedural right of illegal migrants to personalised examination of their case was tantamount to de facto praise of illicit behaviour by migrants, and indirectly rewarding those who had manipulated and incited such illegal mass influxes. 58.     The applicants contested the Government’s objections. 59.     The relevant principles in this regard are set out in N.D. and N.T. (cited above, §§ 102-03). In particular, a State’s jurisdictional competence under Article 1 is primarily territorial .   It is presumed to be exercised normally throughout the State’s territory. Only in exceptional circumstances may this presumption be limited, particularly where a State is prevented from exercising its authority in part of its territory (ibid., § 103). 60.     As a State’s jurisdiction is presumed to be exercised throughout its territory, the question to be addressed is whether the respondent State may, by invoking exceptional circumstances as it has done, alter or reduce the extent of its jurisdiction in part of its territory where the events in issue took place. 61.     In that regard the Court observes at the outset that its case-law precludes territorial exclusions (see   Matthews v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 24833/94, § 29, ECHR 1999 ‑ I, and Assanidze v. Georgia [GC], no.   71503/01, § 140, ECHR 2004 ‑ II) other than in the instance referred to in Article 56 § 1 of the Convention (dependent territories), which is not applicable in the present case. 62.     In the instant case the Government referred to the difficulty of managing illegal migration through the respondent State. However, they did not allege that this situation prevented them from exercising their full authority over the relevant part of the national territory. While the Government referred to the participation of police officers from other States, it is clear from the circumstances of the case that the respondent State has never ceded its jurisdiction over the area in question to any State, including those whose police officers had come to help the respondent Government. The Court also notes that the Ministry of the Interior of North Macedonia issued a press release confirming that two large groups of illegal migrants had been returned to Greece on 15 March 2016 (see paragraph 13 above), thereby assuming responsibility for the action in question and rendering irrelevant the issue of where exactly the video footage had been made. 63.     Hence, the Court cannot discern any “constraining de facto situation” or “objective facts” capable of limiting the effective exercise of the respondent State’s authority over its territory in this particular area and, consequently, of rebutting the “presumption of competence” in respect of the applicants (see Ilaşcu and Others v. Moldova and Russia [GC], no.   48787/99, §§ 313 and 333, ECHR 2004 ‑ VII). Furthermore, the Court has previously stated that the special nature of the context as regards migration cannot justify an area outside the law where individuals are covered by no legal system capable of affording them enjoyment of the rights and guarantees protected by the Convention which the States have undertaken to secure to everyone within their jurisdiction (see,   mutatis mutandis ,   Hirsi Jamaa and Others v.   Italy [GC], no. 27765/09, § 178, ECHR 2012). As a constitutional instrument of European public order (see   Loizidou v. Turkey (preliminary objections), 23 March 1995, § 75, Series A no. 310, and Al-Skeini and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC], no.   55721/07, § 141, ECHR 2011), the Convention   cannot be selectively restricted to only parts of the territory of a   State by means of an artificial reduction in the scope of its territorial jurisdiction. To conclude otherwise would amount to rendering the notion of effective human rights protection underpinning the entire Convention meaningless   (see Assanidze , cited above, §   142). 64.     Accordingly, the events giving rise to the alleged violations fall within the respondent State’s jurisdiction within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention.   Consequently, the Court dismisses the Government’s objection in this regard (see, mutatis mutandis , N.D. and N.T. , cited above, §§ 105-111, 13 February 2020). Admissibility The applicants’ alleged loss of victim status 65.     The Government submitted that, even assuming that the people visible in the video footage were indeed the applicants, the latter had ceased to have victim status, as at the time of lodging their applications they had all been residing in various safe EU countries. 66.     The applicants maintained that they had preserved their victim status as there had been no acknowledgement of the violation or reparation of it. In any event, the fact that they had later reached EU countries was irrelevant for the complaint in question. 67 .     In the case of an alleged expulsion such as the present one, the Court has already taken the view that it could not take into consideration events that occurred following a separate crossing of the border (see N.D. and N.T. , cited above, § 114). Consequently, it dismisses the Government’s objection in this regard. Exhaustion of domestic remedies 68.     The Government submitted that the applicants had failed to exhaust the effective domestic remedies. As they were all in EU countries, there was no legal or factual obstacle to their initiating adequate proceedings before the national courts of the respondent State. They could have: (a) lodged a criminal complaint against those who had secured the border, who had allegedly been involved in their expulsion; (b) claimed compensation for the damage caused by the alleged unlawful conduct, including against the Ministry of the Interior, as a legal entity that was liable for the damage caused by its bodies, which included the Border Police; (c) pursued of their own motion a criminal prosecution for coercion, all of which proceedings could still be taken by the applicants at the time when the Government submitted their observations. 69.     The applicants submitted that the Government had failed to demonstrate the existence, effectiveness and availability of the suggested remedies. In any event, none of them appeared to be related to the violation complained of, that is the unlawfulness of the deportation and its summary character. 70.     The Court observes that the Government have outlined the different procedures which, they maintain, were available to the applicants after they had been expelled from the respondent State territory.   In the light of the applicants’   complaint that they were subjected to a collective expulsion, the procedures proposed by the Government cannot be regarded as effective remedies in respect of the alleged violation.   The Government’s objection of non-exhaustion must therefore be dismissed too. Six months 71.     The Government maintained that the applications had been submitted outside the six-month time-limit, as the event in question had taken place on 14   March 2016, and the Court’s stamps on the application forms were from 16   September to 19 September 2016. 72.     The applicants contested the Government’s argument. 73.     The Court notes that date of the lodging of the application is the date of the postmark when the applicant has dispatched a duly completed application form to the Court (Rule 47 § 6 (a) of the Rules of Court; see also Vasiliauskas v. Lithuania [GC], no. 35343/05, §§ 115-17, ECHR 2015, and Brežec v. Croatia , no. 7177/10, § 29, 18 July 2013). In the present case all the applications were submitted on 12 September 2016, and therefore within six months. The Government’s objection in this regard must also be dismissed. Applicability of Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 (a)    The parties’ submissions (i)       The Government 74.     The Government submitted that Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 was not applicable as the action in question had not been a collective expulsion, but the prevention of an illegal entry into the country. The officials in question had had a duty to protect the border from illegal crossings and to maintain the territorial integrity. The number of illegal entries had kept rising in 2014, reaching disturbing proportions by the end of 2015, with over 10,000 people on some days. To refrain from measures aimed at preventing illegal admission, thereby jeopardising its own and regional border management policy, that is, maintaining territorial integrity, would have in practice encouraged further illegal mass influxes at the critical time. 75.     After the European Union had decided to address the situation, the respondent State had also taken steps to adjust its policy and prevent waves of illegal migrants.   The measures taken were in line with national legislation and international standards and had been aimed at ensuring the effectiveness of border surveillance and control. (ii)     The applicants 76.     The applicants contended that their return to Greece had constituted collective expulsion, which was defined by the absence of an individual basis for that expulsion, rather than the characteristics of the group. (b)    The Court’s assessment 77.     In order to determine whether Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 is applicable the Court must first establish whether the applicants were subjected to an “expulsion” within the meaning of that provision. 78.     The relevant principles in that regard are set out in N.D. and N.T. (cited above, §§ 166-88). 79.     Turning to the present case, the Court is in no doubt that the applicants were apprehended on Macedonian territory by the police and army of North Macedonia and were therefore within that State’s jurisdiction within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention. The Court refers in that regard to the considerations it outlined in reply to the Government’s preliminary objection that the respondent State lacked jurisdiction in the present case (see paragraphs 62-64 above). Those considerations were based on the fact that a   State may not unilaterally claim exemption from the Convention, or modify its effects, in respect of part of its territory, even for reasons it considers legitimate. 80.     It is further beyond dispute that the applicants were removed from Macedonian territory and (forcibly) returned to Greece by members of the   respondent State’s police and army. There was therefore an “expulsion” within the meaning of Article 4 of Protocol No. 4. Accordingly, that provision is applicable in the present case. The Court therefore dismisses the Government’s preliminary objection in this regard. The Courts’ conclusion 81.     T