EN
REPORT: ACCESS TO ASYLUM ON
THE GREEK MAINLAND
Mobile Info Team (MIT) and Refugee Legal Support (RLS) carried out research on the asylum
procedure for people applying for the first time who live on the Greek mainland, Crete or
Rhodes. The aim of the research was to understand the impact of changes to the Greek asylum
system introduced in September 2022, when two new facilities for screening and registration
were established, located close to Thessaloniki (Diavata RIC) and Athens (Malakasa RIC). We
interviewed 19 people who applied for asylum through the new system and 8 Greek lawyers and
legal practitioners. We asked questions about people’s experiences accessing the asylum
procedure and the screening process within the mainland RICs, and about the effects of being
undocumented on their daily lives for those who had to wait a long time for their registration
appointment.
KEY FINDINGS
1. Access to the asylum procedure:
In general people found it difficult to access clear and accessible information on how to
apply for asylum for the first time on the Greek mainland, and they relied primarily on
personal networks and NGOs who supported them to apply;
There are still extensive delays in the asylum system which mean that people submitting
their first asylum claim on the mainland may have to wait weeks or even months to
register their claim;
Respondents reported that it was difficult to use the online platform to book an
appointment at Malakasa or Diavata RIC because they lacked confidence navigating the
technology or frequently encountered technical difficulties, for instance the platform
crashing or being unavailable for extended periods of time up to three and a half months;