Reception Conditions Short overview of the reception system In May 2018, L 4540/2018 transposed the recast Reception Conditions Directive into national law, almost three years after the transposition deadline. In 2019, L. 4540/2018 was replaced by the IPA (L. 4636/2019), which entered into force on 1 January 2020 and was amended with a series of laws (inter alia L. 4686/2020 and L. 4825/2021). The IPA constituted a uniform legislation for the provisions of reception, asylum procedure and recognition of international protection incorporating the relevant EU (recast) Directives (Directive 2013/33/EU, Directive 2013/32/EU and Directive 2011/95/EU). On 10 June 2022, the IPA (Articles 1-112 and 114) was also replaced by L 4939/2022 (Asylum Code), which constitutes a codification of legislation on reception, international protection of third country nationals and stateless persons, as well as on temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons, which was incorporated as per the provisions of P.D. 80/2006 (A΄ 82), following the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382. Lastly, after the replacement of L. 4554/2018 on guardianship – which was never implemented – by L. 4960/2022 on the National Guardianship System and Framework of Accommodation of Unaccompanied Minors (UAMs),842 which entered into force on 22 July 2022, the relevant provisions of L. 4960/2022 were also incorporated in the Asylum Code. Under the Asylum Code, the Reception and Identification Service (RIS) within the Secretariat General of Reception of Asylum Seekers under the Ministry of Migration and Asylum (MoMA) is defined as the authority responsible for reception.843 The Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors (SSPUM), which was established under the MoMA in February 2020,844 competent for the protection of UAM, including for their accommodation, and also for the guardianship of UAMs, was abolished in June 2023. Its responsibilities (under article 39 of P.D. 106/2020) were transferred to the new General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection (GSVP) established with article 6(1) of P.D. 77/2023 (A' 130/ 27.6.2023), falling under the competency of the Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum845. The new General Secretariat is also competent for the National Referral Mechanism, according to article 66ΛΓ Asylum Code added with article 39 of L. 4960/2022. With regard to the composition of the reception system, a substantial change occurred in 2022, when the ESTIA accommodation scheme was terminated. ESTIA provided rented housing to vulnerable asylum applicants in the context of reception. The scheme, which since January 2021 had been operating under the sole responsibility of the MoMA,846 was terminated at the end of 2022, amidst increased concerns for former residents, such as families that had already started the integration process and children who were enrolled to school, who upon exiting ESTIA, were frequently left to their fate or on the streets or forced to interrupt their education (school).847 The programme’s termination, which had been announced by the MoMA in February 2022,848 also signified the transformation of Greece’s reception system into one exclusively modelled on camp-based accommodation, with very few exceptions concerning in particular UAM (e.g., shelters and SILs). In 2023, island CCACs and mainland camps, remained the dominant forms of reception. From 1 January to 30 September 2022, there were 18,046 referrals for reception to the RIS. Of these, 8,502 (47%) were made by the Asylum Service, 6,900 (38%) by the Police, 1,591 (9%) by Social Support or Protection 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 L 4960/2022 National Guardianship System and Framework of Accommodation of UAMs and other provisions under the jurisdiction of the MoMA. Article 1(ιστ΄) Asylum Code. Article 1(3) P.D.18/2020, Gov. Gazette 34/Α/19-2-2020. MoMA, Webpage of the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons & Institutional Protection, available at: https://tinyurl.com/2sspd4xx. See, e.g., MoMA, Press Release on ESTIA 2021, February 2021, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3uwgpjX. EfSyn, Ανέστιοι πρόσφυγες χωρίς το ESTIA, 24 December 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3YYaWjw; News24/7, The government threw mothers with underage children on the streets, 10 December 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3lFktO2 and GCR, Evictions, Homelessness and setbacks to integration, 30 November 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3S9uwHz. MoMA, ESTIA II to be completed in 2022, 22 February 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3iGewf1. 174