Namely, as observed in Kos, since the cash support programme was handed over to the MoMA, nearly all applicants on the island have stopped receiving this type of material reception support and, importantly, are no longer informed by the RIS of their right to receive it. Amidst changing practices, a further hindering factor observed is that applicants are required to hold a Greek phone number to be able to request cash support, meaning they must first have their asylum application registered, in order to then be able to exit the CCAC –where they frequently remain in conditions of de facto detention for up to 25 days– to procure such a number. Yet fast registration and processing times lead to situations where, within very few days (e.g. 4 in November) , applicants have already received a negative decision and are thus excluded from cash support before they even had the opportunity to apply for it. 686 Whether similar practices apply to other applicants who did not receive cash needs to be further assessed, yet lack of access to cash was also reported in Lesvos,687 and affects all those who for (inter alia) reasons of dignity or fear have “opted out” of being accommodated in Greece’s camp-based reception system. Of the 4,728 applicants who received cash in December 2022, the majority were from Afghanistan (23%), followed by Syrians (10%), nationals of the DRC (10%), Somalia (9%), Sierra Leone and Iraq (8% each). The vast majority of beneficiaries (58%) were between 18-34, 17% between 35-64, 21% were between 0-13, 4% between 14-17 and less than 2% were 65 years of age or older as per the MoMA’s data. No disaggregated data on the family situation of the applicants was published. 688 The amount distributed to each household s proportionate to the size of each household and differs depending on whether the accommodation is catered or not. The financial sums in 2022 remained the same as the ones distributed in 2021, ranging from € 75 for single adults in catered accommodation to € 420 for a family of four or more in self-catered accommodation.689 In general terms, the sum provided is lower than what is provided under the Minimum Guaranteed Income, which foresees € 200 support for a single-member household that is increased by € 100 for each additional adult member of the household and by € 50 for each minor member, up to a € 900 ceiling, 690 albeit variations may arise depending on each household. In addition to the fact that cash assistance preserves refugees’ dignity and facilitates the process of regaining an autonomous life, by allowing them to choose what they need most, the programme has also had a significant, positive impact on local communities, as this assistance is eventually injected into the local economy, family shops and service providers. In proportion to programme’s beneficiaries, approximately € 7.4 million in cash assistance was expected to be injected into the local economy in December 2020.691 No relevant data has been reported since the MoMA started issuing reports on the implementation of the cash programme. 3. Reduction or withdrawal of reception conditions Indicators: Reduction or Withdrawal of Reception Conditions 1. Does the law provide for the possibility to reduce material reception conditions? Yes 2. Does the law provide for the possibility to withdraw material reception conditions? Yes No No There are several scenarios. Firstly, reception conditions may be reduced or in exceptional and specifically justified cases withdrawn, following a decision of the competent reception authority, where applicants: 692 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 Feedback from GCR team on Kos in January 2023. Information from the 11 January 2023 protection working group operating under UNHCR on Lesvos. MoMA, Factsheet December 2022, op.cit. Article 3 Ministerial Decision 115202/2021 on the ‘Terms of material reception conditions in the form of financial assistance to applicants for international protection’, Gov. Gazette 3322/B/26-7-2021. See also: Ministerial Decision 2857/29.9.2021 regulating the cash assistance program. Article 2 (7) JMD 3359/2021, UNHCR, Factsheet: Greece, 1-31 December 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/2QVbl8I, 3. Article 61 (1), (2), (3) and (4) of Asylum Code. 150