All information regarding the operation and structure of the Reception and Identification Service, the operation of the Asylum Service and the Regional Asylum Offices, information and updates about the Asylum Procedure on first and second instance, as well as press releases and announcements pertinent to those who seek or have been granted international protection are available in Greek and English at the Ministry of Migration and Asylum’s website.876 For accurate and timely dissemination of the latest update on asylum and migration issues, the Ministry has also created a Viber community.877 Since 2020, the Ministry of Migration and Asylum launched a new platform, 878 where applicants and beneficiaries of international protection, as well as their representatives, can proceed to the following actions: ❖ Schedule an appointment with the competent Regional Asylum Office ❖ Be informed on the renewal of international protection cards ❖ Apply for change of personal data and contact information ❖ Submit application for separation of files ❖ Submit application to request statement of application status ❖ Submit application to postpone/ expedite the interview date ❖ Submit additional documents ❖ Request for copies of personal file ��� Apply for legal aid at second instance ❖ Apply for notification of ΠΑΑΥΠΑ (Provisional Social Security and Health Care Number) ❖ Apply for notification of Tax Registration Number Although these initiatives were supposed to make the Asylum Service accessible to everyone, as well as to avoid congestion and long waiting queues outside the Regional Asylum Offices, especially during the pandemic, the adjustment of the applicants and beneficiaries to this new reality was not easy, and at times, simply not possible. The main difficulty was the actual access to the platform, since many of the persons of concern were either illiterate or technologically illiterate. This issue, combined with the fact that the Asylum Offices did not serve requests that could be submitted through the online system, eventually excluded many applicants and beneficiaries from those services. Using the platform to request for copies or to make appointments with the asylum service is currently mandatory. Therefore, persons visiting the Asylum Offices are denied access and are referred to the platform. The need for improvement and for the provision of alternative solutions was raised by several NGOs through a letter addressed to the National Commission of Human Rights since December 2021, 879 as well as the fact that the platform remained not available in all languages while the initial menu is only in Greek and English. The issue was raised also in 2022,880 and still persists at the time of the writing (2026). Moreover, legal aid for the appeals procedure must be requested via the electronic application of the Ministry for Migration and Asylum, which significantly hinders access for those not familiar with the use of electronic applications or who do not have access to the required equipment/internet. 881 Moreover, in practice the Head of the RICs on the islands and Evros and the Head of Pre-removal detention facilities in Athens (Amigdaleza and Tavros) notify applicants of first instance decisions while a large number of applicants receive their first instance decision via email. In all cases, the inability of the applicants to understand the content of the communicated documents and the procedure that can follow to secure legal aid has been reported by many applicants as well and continued in 2024 and 2025. 876 877 878 879 880 881 See: https://bit.ly/39WDeDR. See: https://bit.ly/3J1xTKx. See: https://bit.ly/3tLovGq. Letter signed by 14 NGOs communicated to the National Commission of Human Rights on 16 of December 2021, not available online. Amnesty International, ΠΡΟΣΒΑΣΗ ΣΤΟ ΑΣΥΛΟ (ΚΑΠΟΙΕΣ ΕΠΙΣΗΜΑΝΣΕΙΣ), 30 June 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3WtfkXV. The electronic application platform for legal aid and other applications relevant to the asylum procedure is available at: https://bit.ly/3BPGrCV. 188