After the accident, the trains did not function but the registrations took place normally, without any provision for the people on how to access the centre. I know a lot of organisations that had to pay for a taxi so people didn’t miss their appointments. Because if you miss your appointment, you could have another one in seven months. Greek lawyer It was a lot of money and also it was winter back then, it was snowing. It was hard for me to get from Chania [in Crete] to Athens without documents, and then to Malakasa which is two hours away from Athens. I stayed in some hotels because I got lost and didn’t know where the location was. Overall I spent around 1000 euros because it took me some time to get there and to come back in the snow. Male respondent from Syria, 34 years (E) Access to the procedure for vulnerable people Despite assurances made in spring 2023 by the Greek authorities regarding plans to establish a referral pathway for vulnerable cases,⁶¹ to date there is no such system in place. In practice, people with vulnerabilities are not prioritised in the registration system and cannot access vital services such as healthcare and accommodation during sometimes long waiting periods for registration within a mainland RIC.⁶² Our research shows that people with special support needs - including victims of torture, pregnant women, single mothers and persons suffering from serious mental illness - are subjected to the same lengthy waiting times for appointments and are not provided with transportation to access the RICs. In one case reported by a social worker working for an NGO, a single father with a child suffering from cancer was unable to travel for registration to a RIC, due to the child’s medical condition. While in this case registration happened outside the RIC, this required persistent follow-up by the social worker, evidencing the need for strong support networks and resources in the absence of a standard operating procedure for prioritisation of vulnerable cases. “If [the NGO] weren’t involved, I would not have been able to go to Malakasa. They gave me the courage to actually go with the lawyer. I was scared, the whole environment I was in wasn’t the best for me. I didn’t want to stay the night at Malakasa.” Woman with a vulnerability from Egypt, 23 years 24