police, but also by UNHCR representatives, who are present during registrations. At the time of our visit, all vulnerable cases would be identified at the police station, where everyone was either way driven to after completing the initial procedures of the Coast Guard. Then, whoever was identified as belonging to a vulnerable community or identified as a vulnerable case was separated from the rest and led to one of the two areas that are used by UNHCR and Mercy Corps to house vulnerable cases. The rest were led to the holding centers that were located in the police station, where the living conditions were abhorrent and should not be used to limit the people’s freedom of movement for half an hour, let alone for a number of days. 2.2. Reception Conditions for New Arrivals 2.2.1 The “Hot Spot” at Pili The island of Kos is one of the 5 islands that constitute a gateway into Europe, in which it was decided that the construction of a “Hot Spot” be built, along with Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Leros. Despite the fact that the decision to build a “Hot Spot” in Kos was made 7 months ago, the extremely negative sentiment that prevailed from the start in the island, on a local community level and especially among local authorities, and the tense and often violent reactions of residents, hampered the completion of the “Hot Spot” within a reasonable amount of time. A plethora of articles throughout February reported that the completion of the construction work and the consequent opening of the “Hot Spot” was expected any day now, however, things turned out differently. During the time of our visit in Kos, construction on the “Hot Spot” was almost completed, and five people serving as administrative staff had just arrived to the island, while two more were expected, as well as a psychosocial team of Praksis, with a psychologist, social worker, nurse and doctor for the staffing of the Mobile Platform Reception and Identification Service, which has been managing the Hot Spot. Thus, there were still serious problems that needed to be solved, such as the absence of a telephone line, internet, as well as a POL system for police to complete registration at the “Hot Spot”, while removal of hazardous building material from the site was still pending. The Associate Director of the Center assured us that it was only a matter of days before the “Hot Spot” began operating, while after all the delays and problems that had preceded, representatives from other entities with whom we came into contact maintained serious concerns and reservations. In the end, a few days after we departed from the island, the signal was launched for the “Hot Spot” to begin operations and due to the extremely limited flow to the island, many of the new arrivals in similar entry points in the country were transported to the “Hot Spot” of Kos, where registration and identification procedures would take place. However, it appears that “Hot Spots” operations are riddled with serious problems, which led a government representative of Dodecanese to bring the issue to the Parliament and relevant Ministers. These problems are related to, among other things, the 5