Regular procedure and Fast-track border procedure, many asylum seekers continue to be forced into the personal interview before the Asylum Service without prior assessment of their vulnerability, including pregnant women. The number of healthcare professionals involved in the provision of medical and psychosocial services at different Reception and Identification Centres in the border regions in 2022 is not available. Lesvos: According to GCR’s observations, on Lesvos the quarantine period imposed upon arrival could last up to about two months depending on several factors, such as the availability of EODY and RIS staff, the number of COVID-19 cases, etc. UNHCR Units had no access to the quarantine area where all new arrivals were being placed for as long as the quarantine lasted, thus depriving newcomers of the possibility to undergo a vulnerability assessment and access basic information regarding their rights, the procedures and their general status. Even after the completion of the quarantine period, only evident vulnerabilities were identified given the low quality of the medical screening. Psychosocial support was conducted mostly after the first instance interview. Due to these shortcomings, a considerable number of newcomers and asylum seekers were not properly assessed regarding potential vulnerabilities. RAO continued scheduling interviews before the completion of the vulnerability assessment, while there was no information exchange between RIS and RAO to ensure interviews were scheduled after the assessment had been completed. Indicatively, an applicant suffering from active tuberculosis at the time of her interview before RAO had not been identified by RIS during the medical screening and in any case the RAO’s caseworker was not aware of her health condition. Also, any reassessment of vulnerabilities only took place for active asylum cases - subsequent applications that had not yet received a positive decision on admissibility were not considered as such. In most cases a vulnerability assessment was conducted only after the examination of the asylum claim and the results of the vulnerability assessment were often not communicated to the Asylum Service prior to the examination of the asylum claim. Shortcomings related to understaffing were also reported in the RIS of Kos, as there was no EODY doctor in 2022 and vulnerability assessments were signed in mass when a visitor doctor from EODY arrived at the RIS. Only obvious vulnerabilities were identified (e.g. pregnant women, elderly people); while victims of GBV or Female Genital Mutilation victims were often identified as vulnerable by RIS only after a first instance negative decision on their asylum application. The lifting of the geographical restriction (see also Error! Reference source not found.) Under the IPA and the Asylum Code, the recognition of vulnerability of asylum seekers has no bearing on the asylum procedure under which their application is examined. Therefore, vulnerable groups, even when identified as such, are no longer referred to the Regular procedure, unless it is proven that no appropriate health care regarding their individual medical problem is available on the island where they reside (See below). In the latter cases, the geographical restriction imposed upon arrival is lifted and persons are transferred or allowed to travel to the mainland. In light of this, the exemption of vulnerable individuals from the Fast-Track Border procedure has become much more difficult. More precisely, for asylum-seekers who entered Greece through the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos, Leros, and Rhodes during 2022, a restriction of movement within each island (‘geographical restriction’) was imposed as per the Ministerial Decision 1140/2.12.2019 (GG B’ 4736/20.12.2019) in force since 1 January 2020.456 Greek law transposes Article 7 RCD allowing Member States to impose a restriction of movement to asylum-seekers within a specific area assigned to them, provided that it does not affect the unalienable sphere of private life and that it allows sufficient scope for guaranteeing access to all benefits under the Directive. Until 31 December 2019, the geographical restriction could be lifted, inter alia, in respect of vulnerable persons. Following amendments to the law, after 1 January 2020, the geographical restriction may inter alia457 be lifted by a decision of the Manager of the RIC for vulnerable 456 457 This act is based on Article 45 L. 4636/2019. It is worth noting that the act mentions that the geographical restriction is necessary for the implementation of the EU-Türkiye statement. Except for the case of vulnerable persons and persons in need of special reception conditions the geographical restriction may be lifted in the case of: a. unaccompanied minors; b. persons falling under the family reunification provisions of Articles 8-11 of Dublin Regulation, only after the person is accepted by the 109