To date, legislative provisions for the amendment of Article 109 Asylum Code and the extension of the
period for the reception of material conditions regarding beneficiaries of international protection have not
taken place. Nor has a Joint Ministerial Decision been issued pursuant to Article 109(1) Asylum Code to
determine the categories of beneficiaries of international protection for whom an extension of the provision
of material reception conditions and the length of stay in the facilities is permitted. 1446
For beneficiaries of international protection, the HELIOS programme – which since 2019 has been the
only nationwide integration programme – and its continuation HELIOS+, which is funded under the
European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), includes a component on housing, aimed at supporting beneficiaries
in accessing accommodation in apartments rented in their name. Under this component, the programme
provides an initial, one-off instalment aimed at supporting beneficiaries’ transition into a new home, which
ranges from 470€ for an individual and up to 1,500€ for a family of 6 or more, alongside a monthly
contribution to rent costs (rental subsidy), that ranges from 230€ for an individual and up to 800€ for a
family of 6 or more, which can be provided for up to a maximum of 12 months. If beneficiaries are willing
to relocate outside of major urban centers, such as Athens, they are eligible for an additional 4 months of
rental subsidy.1447
BIPs wishing to enrol to the HELIOS + programme need to fulfil the following criteria:1448
a) They must have been officially issued a decision granting international protection status (refugee
status or subsidiary protection status) by the Greek Asylum Service, or they must be beneficiaries
of temporary protection in Greece based on the Executive Decision (EU) 2022/382 of the Council
of the European Union, or they must have been relocated to Greece through family reunification
procedures with a refugee, according to relevant legislation, or they must have been granted a
residence permit of equal duration in Greece as family members of a beneficiary of international
protection, according to relevant legislation.
b) They must be proven to be unemployed at the time of registration.
c) They must enroll within twenty-four (24) months from the date of notification of the decision
granting international protection status, the decision granting a Residence Permit of equal
duration or a Residence Permit due to family reunification, or from the date of initial issuance of
a Temporary Protection Residence Permit.
As of 30 April 2026, a total of 2,576 beneficiaries had been enrolled to the Helios + programme, the
majority of which from Ukraine (31.52%), Syria (13.7%), Palestine (10.36%), Afghanistan (10.29%), and
Sudan (8.93%). This represents less than 10% of persons who received international protection in Greece
in 2025 alone (27,181).1449 Of those enrolled to the programme, only 53% (1,374) benefitted from the
programme’s housing component (rental subsidies). 1450
The "Coverage" (Κάλυψη) housing assistance program is a program that covers beneficiaries of
international protection, but it was not established to cover exclusively these beneficiaries. It is addressed
to all persons legally residing in Greece. In particular:
‘[t]he beneficiaries of the program are people aged twenty-five (25) to thirty-nine (39), who are
included in the beneficiary units of article 2 of the under data D13/ok.53923 /23.7.2021 joint
decision of the Ministers of Finance, Education and Religion, Labor and Social Affairs, Interior,
Digital Governance and State (B' 3359). The program covers the cost of renting the residence for
three (3) years. The expense may not exceed the rental amount with which the residence was
allocated within the framework of the "ESTIA II" and "ESTIA 2021" programs, adjusted according
to the change in the average annual general consumer price index of the Hellenic Statistical
1446
1447
1448
1449
1450
Intervention by 20 civil society organizations of the national Legal Working Group to the Minister and Vice
Minister of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum and the Minister of Citizen Protection, Beneficiaries of
International Protection, prot. no. β/139/24.10.2024.
IOM, Helios+ Project Regulation Handbook, October 2025, available at: https://greece.iom.int/helios, p.10.
Ibid. pp.2-3.
MoMA, Statistics: Consolidated Reports – Overview, December 2025 - International Protection | Appendix A,
available at: https://tinyurl.com/26ynfarp Tables 11a and 11b.
IOM, Helios+ Factsheet, April 2026, available at: https://greece.iom.int/helios, pp.1, 3.
282