The lack of interpretation services in public hospitals poses a constant barrier on people’s access to the public health system, as confirmed in April 2024 through our contact with public hospitals where residents of different Southern Greece Camps are called to refer. Specifically: ▪ The General Hospital of Chalkida has had no intepreters for almost two years. ▪ The General Hospital of Thiva has no interpreters despite a request to EODY for assistance. ▪ The General Hospital of Livadia has no interpreters. ▪ The “KAT” General Hospital of Athens has no interpreters. ▪ The “Alexandra” General Hospital of Athens has interpretation in Farsi and Arabic through two PHILOS programme interpreters and French and Lingala through Médecins Sans Frontières. ▪ The “Elena Venizelou” General Hospital has interpretation in Arabic under the PHILOS programme. ▪ The “Agia Sofia” Children’s Hospital has interpretation in Farsi and Arabic on a daily basis under the PHILOS programme. In the case of Corinth too, the Greek Ombudsman stresses that “hospital services do not usually provide interpreters”.46 Additional obstacles to access to the Greek public health system face those camp residents who lack an active Provisional Foreigner’s Insurance and Health Care Number (Προσωρινός Αριθμός Ασφάλισης και Υγειονομικής Περίθαλψης Αλλοδαπού, PAAYPA)47 due to the rejection of their asylum claim, including people left in legal limbo following the dismissal of their applications as inadmissible based on the “safe third country” concept. Case study: Halimo* is a refugee from Somalia and a mother of a minor child suffering from a serious orthopaedic condition. Both reside in CTRC Ritsona and had their initial asylum application dismissed as inadmissible based on the “safe third country” concept. In December 2023, Halimo reached out to EODY staff in the camp to request medication for respiratory issues from which she suffers. The camp, however, informed her that it was impossible to prescribe her medication since her PAAYPA has been deactivated. Similarly – and even though she later lodged a subsequent application – it was not possible to conduct the examination requested by a doctor of the “KAT” General Hospital of Athens for her minor daughter due to the lack of an active PAAYPA. Access to services outside camps The majority of camps on the mainland are located at a great distance from Greek urban centres. This creates “clear difficulties in accessing goods and services” 48 and generates among residents 46 47 48 Ombudsman, The Challenge of Migratory Flows and Refugee Protection, April 2024, 67. Article 59(2) Greek Asylum Code. Ombudsman, The Challenge of Migratory Flows and Refugee Protection, April 2024, 47. RSA REPORT │ REFUGEE CAMPS IN MAINLAND GREECE | JUN 2024 14