facilities is only allowed between 7am-9pm, only for family members or representatives of a group, and only in order ‘to meet essential needs in the nearest urban centres’. 835 2.2 Conditions on the Eastern Aegean islands The situation on the islands has been widely documented and remains alarming, despite the gradual decrease in the levels of overcrowding since 2020 and the lack of overcrowding by the end of 2022. Between January and December 2022, a total of 7,363 persons from the islands of Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Kos and Leros were able to leave the islands, while another 558 were transferred to the mainland from other islands.836 By the end of December 2022, 4,371 asylum seekers and refugees were living in facilities with a designated nominal capacity of 15,190, with the majority in Lesvos (1,709), Samos (1,013) and Kos (917).837 As per observations in the field, nominal capacity seems to not necessarily equate to actual capacity. For instance, as reported during the Lesvos Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting, which operates under UNHCR, on 19 January 2022, due to increased arrivals, the CCAC Director had informed that shelter availability in the Lesvos CCAC had become scarce, impacting on living conditions. At the time, the CCAC reportedly hosted 1,920 persons, which seems to also highlight a significant discrepancy vis-à-vis the nominal capacity of the CCAC, which has been consistently reported at 8,000 places by the National Coordination Centre for border Control, Immigration and Asylum, operating under the Ministry of Citizen Protection.838 Nevertheless, despite available capacity, conditions remain unfit for purpose. In 2021, similar to mainland camps, there was a lack of access to heating during the winter on the islands in early 2021 in the RIC of Chios and Mavrovouni. Even if heating devices had been secured in the latter camp, insufficient and/or unstable power supplies made it impossible for residents to use them.839 By the end of the year, this had yet to be resolved, exposing the residents of Mavrovouni, who still lived in tents to experience yet another winter with severe shortages in electricity and heating, after the MoMA failed to renew the electricity generator maintenance contract that had expired in September. 840 As noted in December 2021,841 “[m]any Mavrovouni residents report that they still only have electricity for 1-2 hours during the morning and 1-2 hours during the night. The lack of electricity and thus lighting is also causing protection risks, particularly for women. Women in Mavrovouni report sexual harassment and assaults on a regular basis, especially during the night due to inadequate lighting and slow response by the police”. Challenges with the stable supply of electricity in Mavrovouni have continued to be reported in the first months of 2023 and were reportedly expected to be resolved towards the end of March. 842 Amongst other issues reported was an increase in GBV incidents for which, with scarce exceptions, the survivors did not wish to follow through and open a case, as well as a concerning increase in the number of scabies cases in the camp.843 In 2022, infrastructure-related problems were also mentioned in Zervou Centre in Samos, the first among the five Closed Control Access Centres (CCACs) constructed. As mentioned by MSF, despite improvements (e.g. decongestion and the placement of containers instead of tents), the Zervou CCAC 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 JMD Δ1α/ΓΠ.οικ. 75297 on Emergency measures to protect public health against the risk of further spread of COVID-19 coronavirus in the whole territory from Sunday, 1 January 2023 at 06:00 until Monday, 30 January 2023 at 06:00, published on 31 December 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3na7qVX, Annex II. MoMA, Briefing Notes: International Protection, Annex A, December 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/41W5ZsN. National Coordination Centre for Border Control, Immigration and Asylum, Situational Picture in the Eastern Aegean 31.12.22, 1 January 2023. For instance, see NCCBCIA, National Situational Picture Regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (19/01/2022), 20 January 2022 and National Situational Picture Regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (31/12/2022), 1 January 2023. Both can also be accessed on the MoMA’s website at: https://migration.gov.gr/en/statistika/, under the label ‘National Situation: Migrant and Refugee Issue’. GCR & Oxfam, Lesbos Bulletin: Update on the EU response in Lesbos, by the Greek Council for Refugees & Oxfam, 15 February 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3e0NsFO, 2. GCR & Oxfam, Lesbos Bulletin: Update on the EU response in Lesbos, by the Greek Council for Refugees & Oxfam, 1 December 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/36yc2wL. Ibid. Based on information received through the Lesvos Inter-Agency Coordination Meetings, operating under UNHCR, on 15 February 2023 and 27 March 2023. Ibid. 174