36 THE DUBLIN II TRAP TRANSFERS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS TO GREECE 6.1. ACCESS TO ACCOMMODATION RECEPTION CONDITIONS DIRECTIVE Article 13 General rules on material reception conditions and health care 1. Member States shall ensure that material reception conditions are available to applicants when they make their application for asylum. Article 14 Modalities for material reception conditions 1. Where housing is provided in kind, it should take one or a combination of the following forms: (a) premises used for the purpose of housing applicants during the examination of an application for asylum lodged at the border; (b) accommodation centres which guarantee an adequate standard of living; (c) private houses, flats, hotels or other premises adapted for housing applicants. In Iran I had a good job, good car, good education but I was not free. And I wanted to be free. If I return as a Christian to Iran my life is finished. Today I can’t live on the streets… Iranian asylum-seeker returned from Switzerland We have seen cases where both families with infants and unaccompanied minors have to sleep in parks. GRC staff member The right to adequate housing is guaranteed in, among other standards, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which Greece is a party.125 According to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the right to adequate housing includes legal security of tenure and protection from forced eviction and other harassment and threats; availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; affordability; habitability; accessibility; location; and cultural adequacy.126 According to Article 6 of PD 220/2007, asylum-seekers may receive free accommodation in an asylum-seekers’ centre or in any other space provided by the state. Asylum-seekers who have no place of residence may apply to enrol on the relevant waiting lists of the Ministry of Health to be provided with accommodation. The overall capacity of reception centres is low in comparison to the increasing number of asylum-seekers in the country. According to UNHCR’s 2009 report, accommodation for registered asylum-seekers is officially available in 12 reception centres, which are generally understaffed and under-resourced.127 The centres provide 811 places, while, according to UNHCR, there were 19,884 asylum applications in 2008 alone. There are eight special reception centres for unaccompanied and separated minors in Greece, providing 405 available places in total128. It has been reported that the shelter for asylum-seekers in Thessaloniki, run by an NGO and subsidized by the Ministry of Health, will close at the Amnesty International March 2010 Index: EUR 25/001/2010