places in apartments in Athens and Thessaloniki for vulnerable asylum seekers. 64 That programme has been neither officially launched nor rolled out to date. 65 That said, the immediate announcement of a new programme for decentralised urban accommodation by the Ministry should be read as an admission of error in the policy choice to dismantle the ESTIA programme and of the inability to afford adequate reception conditions in camps isolated from local communities. Official statistics of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum indicate that all mainland camps except for CTRC Attiko Alsos accommodate vulnerable asylum seekers who have been identified as having special reception needs. At the end of last year, the mainland camps hosted a total of 1,986 people who according to the authorities received special reception conditions: Persons with special reception needs in Southern Greece Camps: 31 Dec 2023 Camp Vulnerable Total residents Share RIC & CTRC Malakasa 154 2,565 6% CTRC Ritsona 335 2,291 14.6% CTRC Koutsochero 0 0 0% CTRC Schisto 69 872 7.9% CTRC Thiva 81 600 13.5% CTRC Corinth 75 706 10.6% CTRC Kyllini 35 303 11.6% CTRC Thermopyles 29 319 9.1% CTRC Oinofyta 23 314 7.3% CTRC Pyrgos 75 182 40.5% CTRC Elefsina 24 93 25.8% CTRC Volos 16 110 14.5% CTRC Attiko Alsos 0 37 0% 916 8,392 10.9% Total Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Reply to parliamentary question, 5 Mar 2024 Persons with special reception needs in Northern Greece Camps: 31 Dec 2023 Camp Vulnerable Total residents Share CTRC Polykastro 165 1,206 13.7% CTRC Serres 150 1,244 12.1% CTRC Katsikas 108 940 11.5% CTRC Kavala 113 913 12.4% RIC & CTRC Diavata 50 531 9.4% 64 65 European Commission, Task Force Migration Management Mission Report – Athens/Lesvos – December 2022, Ares(2022)8851878, December 2022, 3; Operational conclusions 12th Steering Committee for Migration Management, Ares(2023)3222469, 25 April 2023, para 1.3. Although the call for proposals was to be published in the first quarter of 2024: ΤΑΜΕΥ, Προγραμματισμός προσκλήσεων για την υποβολή προτάσεων, September 2023, available here. RSA REPORT │ REFUGEE CAMPS IN MAINLAND GREECE | JUN 2024 21