The lack of Asylum Services in Kos makes the Regional Asylum Office in Rhodes incredibly relevant for new arrivals (including all those who have been transferred there from another entry point, where most likely there is no “Hot Spot”, ex. Crete, or another from another point where the “Hot Spot” is overcrowded, ex. Chios), who wish to file an asylum request to Greece. This fact results in serious practical difficulties, as firstly the transfer of newcomers to Rhodes in order to register and second the need to conduct their interviews, presents a challenge to the authorities who are already overworked with these responsibilities. In order for a request to be filed, many factors need to coordinate, such as the ROA Rhodes Officer, who will notify everyone of the meeting, in combination with a translator from Metadrasis as well as the authorities which transfer the new arrival, after of course, the ferry routes and weather conditions are taken into consideration. At the time of our visit to the island of Kos, only one request for asylum had been made and one more was expecting to be filed within the week, while no introductory interview had been conducted, namely on the grounds that the applicant did not wish to be returned to Turkey and because Turkey cannot be considered a safe third country or the first country of a asylum. Either way, the date that had been set for the interview in one case was 15/06, in other words a month after the initial registration. On the days of our visit and despite the absence of Asylum Services from Kos, an introductory mission had been conducted by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), which expects to significantly support the efforts of the Independent Asylum Echelon, when it operates. The situation was particularly problematic during the time of our visit in situations that involved unaccompanied minors, who wished to file a request for asylum. Metadrasi had already expressed interest in accompanying minor to Rhodes so that they can file their requests, however, there was a series of practical difficulties that needed to be overcome so that this could be feasible. At the end, during the start of June, the obstacles were overcome and the first accompaniments to Rhodes began so that minors could begin filing their requests. With regard to the rest of the cases of new arrivals in Kos, during the time our visit 61 people in total, from Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Dominican Republic Egypt, Ivory Coast and Palestine, had expressed interest to the police to file a request for asylum, From those people, some were being administratively detained in the detention centers of the Second Police Station of Dodecanese, and some were staying at the Mercy Corps apartments. An issue had arisen with regard to a family that had been separated registering for asylum and a father that was being detained while the rest of the members were staying in the apartments, since the cases had to be correlated within the police’s computer system, so that the transfer to Rhodes for filing their cases could be done collectively as a family. 10