RIC-based reception and accommodation. Therefore, the main underlying questions revolved around what happens when asylum seekers arrive in Greece, to what extent are their reception and accommodation (living conditions) in line with the imperative to respect and protect their decency and rights, and what are the effects of reception towards both their short and long-term wellbeing, as well as their relation with their new host society. In terms of methodology, the project was based on interviews with officials and/or other professionals engaged in the field of refugee protection, field research and desk-based research. Interviews and discussions were primarily carried out with GCR personnel at the borders and in Athens and Thessaloniki, and were complemented by some 38 additional interviews with state and other officials and employees working in the field.6 Desk research consisted primarily of reviewing GCR’s internal and published reports, legal documents, as well as reports and articles published by intergovernmental, nongovernmental and other organizations and professionals. Field research, lastly, consisted of visiting a number of refugee reception sites (RICs) and Pre-Removal Centers, of which those found at the island border regions of Lesvos and Kos, the Greek-Turkish land border of Evros, as well as two makeshift accommodation sites/squats at the cityport of Patra will be examined in the current report. Reasons for choosing the specific regions were quite straightforward. Notwithstanding diverging levels of publicity which the islands of Lesvos and Kos have taken throughout the past two years, they presented an interesting testing ground for assessing whether the up to date highly criticized conditions on the Greek islands are solely pertinent on the numbers of irregular arrivals. Indeed, the two islands represent quite diverging cases in terms of the population of third-country nationals/non-nationals they have each received, as in stark contrast to the ever over-congested RIC of Moria, Lesvos, the RIC at Pyli, Kos, has historically –so to speak– found itself at “manageable” levels of congestion. RIC capacity November 2017-May 2018* 300% 250% 200% 150% 100% 50% 0% November December January February Lesvos March April May Kos Source: Ministry of Digital, Telecommunications and Information Policy 7. *Up to the 20th of May, as per the last available data at the time of publication. 4