In its judgement in the case of A.D. v. Greece (Application no. 55363/19), published on 4 April 2023, the ECtHR “for the first time condemned the living conditions of a pregnant woman in Samos hotspot as unanimously found that Greece had violated Article 3 of the ECHR by forcing the applicant to live in unbearable conditions”.1139 The case was supported by Refugee Law Clinic Berlin (Germany), I Have Rights (Samos) and PRO ASYL. Reception of unaccompanied children Following the establishment of the Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors (SSPUM) under the MoMA in February 2020, 1140 the SSPUM has become the competent authority for the protection of UAM, including for their accommodation. In June 2023, the SSPUM was abolished and its responsibilities (under Article 39 of P.D. 106/2020) were transferred to the new General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection (GSVPIP) established with Article 6(1) of P.D. 77/2023 (A' 130/ 27.6.2023) and falling under the competency of the Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum. 1141 The newly established General Secretariat is also competent for the National Referral Mechanism, according to Article 66ΛΓ of L. 4939/2022 added with Article 39 of L. 4960/2022. As of 1 January 2025, there were at least 2,408 unaccompanied and separated children in Greece and a total of 1,775 dedicated accommodation places in shelters and Semi-Independent Living (SILs) facilities, plus 155 places in urgent accommodation facilities. 1142 The latter are located in a total of 4 Emergency Accommodation Structures operating under the responsibility of the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), all of them located in the mainland (3 in Attika region and 1 in Central Macedonia).1143 From the abovementioned estimated population, 1,434 unaccompanied children were residing in Shelters, 215 in Semi Independent Living facilities (SILs) and 129 in urgent accommodation facilities. At the same time, there were a total of 448 unaccompanied minors residing in Reception and Identification Centers and Closed Controlled Access Centers of islands, while other 182 unaccompanied minors were Controlled Accommodation Facilities for Asylum Seekers, having not accept yet the proper reception treatment. The National Emergency Response Mechanism (NERM), initially designed by the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors (now the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Citizens and Institutional Protection) and the UNHCR in 2020, was implemented in Greece in 2021 and institutionalised in 2022. Its primary goal is to identify and provide immediate housing in emergency accommodation structures for unaccompanied minors (UAMs) living in homelessness or precarious conditions. NERM is dedicated to the protection and integration of unaccompanied minors in Greece and has recently expanded its services to vulnerable adults. The goal of NERM is to identify promptly children in immediate need of protection and shelter, transfer them to appropriate accommodation and provide them with the necessary services. 1139 1140 1141 1142 1143 I have Rights, Press Release, Young mother successfully sues the Greek Government for the treatment she suffered as a pregnant woman in the ‘hotspot’ on Samos, available at: https://bit.ly/3Wdfpkc; see also judgements of the ECtHR published on 23 November 2023 on cases M.L. v. Greece (Application no 8386/20) and M.B. v. Greece (Application no 8389/20) where the Court found again a violation of Article 3 of the ECHR on account of the conditions in the Samos hotspot, which amounted to inhumane and degrading treatment. These cases were also supported by Refugee Law Clinic Berlin (Germany), I Have Rights (Samos) and PRO ASYL Foundation: I Have Rights, Press Release, The European Court of Human Rights again condemns the living conditions of asylum seekers on Samos, 11 January 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/s8ce44mk. Article 1(3) P.D.18/2020, Gov. Gazette 34/Α/19-2-2020. MoMA, General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons & Institutional Protection, available at: MoMA / General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons & Institutional Protection, Situation Update: Unaccompanied Children (UAC) in Greece, 1 January 2025, p. 1, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/2s3nmkvh Ibid., p. 2. 230