registration at the RIC of Malakasa until it was arranged by the authorities in late January 2023. In any event, in RSA’s experience, the RIC of Malakasa does not admit everyone who appears on their own initiative without a scheduled appointment via the online platform or the authorities, even where vulnerability or homelessness grounds apply. Case study: Zarifa*, a refugee from Afghanistan, arrived in Greece at the beginning of October 2022 with one of her minor sons. They arrived in Athens and had no stable shelter. After she applied via the online platform, Zarifa obtained an appointment for registration at the RIC of Malakasa in early May 2023. Her lawyers filed a request to the RIC to speed up registration in early November 2022, citing the family’s homelessness and the urgent need for Zarifa to be reunited with her second son who has been in Türkiye since they were forcibly separated at the land border. One week later, Zarifa and her first son travelled to the RIC of Malakasa on their own and asked to be subject to reception and identification procedures. However, the camp denied them entry. Only after contact between Zarifa’s lawyers and the authorities did the RIC reschedule her registration appointment for late November 2022 and admit them on the scheduled date. Case study: Shabnam*, as described above, did not manage to request a registration appointment via the online platform due to the lack of available appointments at the end of November 2022. She was advised to wait for an automated message as soon as the operation of the platform would be reinstated. On the same day, however, her lawyers filed a request to the RIC to speed up the family’s registration on account of serious health issues and vulnerability. One week later, the RIC of Malakasa responded and set a registration appointment for mid-December 2022. Registration was completed on that date. Access to the asylum procedure in Attica: Key figures Over the past two years, the majority of asylum applications throughout Greece have been lodged in Attica, where a dedicated Directorate of the Asylum Service operates three Regional Asylum Offices (RAO) and six Autonomous Asylum Units (AAU). 27 Attica accounted for 43% of the total number of claims in 2021 and 36% in 2022. 28 In the period October to December 2022, for which the Ministry of Migration and Asylum has released detailed statistics, the RIC of Malakasa (1,239) and the various RAO and AAU of the Asylum Service (1,246) lodged almost equal numbers of first asylum applications in the Attica region. The lodging of first asylum claims by location in Attica was as follows: 27 28 Article 29 PD 106/2020, as amended by Article 10 PD 77/2022. Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Statistics; RSA, The Greek asylum procedure in figures: most asylum seekers continue to qualify for international protection 2021, March 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3IidrHY. 8 RSA REPORT │ 2023