Greece’s encamped reception system is underpinned by inadequate reception conditions in sites isolated from urban centres and with difficult access thereto. It also presents serious issues regarding the protection of asylum seekers’ physical and mental health, compounded by severe staffing shortages, failure to disburse financial allowances to the majority of applicants and the absence of appropriate measures to assist the integration of beneficiaries of international protection into the broader society. These conditions are documented in our report through the cases of people legally represented by Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) in mainland camps such as Ritsona, Thiva, Malakasa and Corinth. The report also draws on official data of the Greek authorities on the reception systems and on documents granted by the European Commission upon request for public access. Issues relating to access to education and to reception of unaccompanied children are not covered in the report. Capacity and occupancy of mainland camps The Greek mainland comprises a total of 27 camps managed by the Reception and Identification Service (RIS) of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. These take the form of Controlled Reception Centres for asylum seekers (CTRC), divided into twelve “Northern Greece Centres” and twelve “Southern Greece Centres”,10 and three camps operating as Reception and Identification Centres (RIC): Malakasa, Diavata and Fylakio. 11 Our report discusses the conditions prevailing in mainland camps primarily based on geographical location, regardless of type of facility (RIC, CTRC). The nominal capacity of the camps differs from their actual (“functional”) capacity, often lower for several. The Greek authorities note that “real capacity will never reach full nominal capacity of 40 000 places because there are constraints (such as natural loss)” 12 owed to damaged and non-functional infrastructure or to allocation of rooms to groups below their total capacity e.g. in the case of families.13 According to official Ministry of Migration and Asylum data, the reception system on the mainland counted 22,960 reception places and a nominal capacity of 26,051 places at the end of 2023. The thirteen Southern Greece camps are ordered by size as follows: 10 11 12 13 conditions: European Commission, ‘More Responsibility in managing the refugee crisis: European Commission adopts 40 infringement decisions to make European Asylum System work’, ΙΡ/15/5699, 23 September 2015, available here. Articles 35 and 36 PD 106/2020, as amended and in force, Gov. Gazette Α΄ 255/23.12.2020. Article 34(a), (h) and (i) PD 106/2020. Malakasa comprises of two separate camps: “Malakasa I” operates as a CTRC and “Malakasa II” as a RIC. European Commission, Operational Conclusion 13th Steering Committee for Migration Management, Ares(2023)8358057, 28 September 2023, 3. European Commission, Email correspondence: ‘Summary of meeting with SG Iatridis 07/09/23’, Ares(2023)8358100, 8 September 2023. RSA REPORT │ REFUGEE CAMPS IN MAINLAND GREECE | JUN 2024 3