asylum applicants subject to a detention order, for asylum applicants or persons subject to a return procedure or whose removal has been suspended, provided that restrictive conditions have been imposed on them.743 As per the same amendment, Reception and Identification Centres (RICs), Closed Temporary Reception Structures, Pre-Removal Detention Centres (PRDCs), as well as separate areas with appropriate specifications for the accommodation of third country nationals or stateless persons belonging to vulnerable groups can operate within the aforementioned Closed Temporary Reception Centres and Closed-Controlled Island Centres. As of 24 March 2020, following the issuance of a relevant Joint Ministerial Decision of the Ministers of Finance and of Migration & Asylum,744 all temporary accommodation centres (i.e. mainland camps) and emergency facilities (i.e. hotels) have been regulated. Before that, the only three facilities officially established on the mainland were Elaionas,745 Schisto and Diavata,746 with the rest operating without an official manager, through Site Management & Support. As of May 2020, following a decision issued by the Minister of Migration and Asylum,747 Directors were assigned for a period of a year, which is renewable for up to an additional 2 years, to the entire island, RICs and the temporary mainland accommodation centres. In the same month, as per Joint Ministerial Decisions issued by the Ministers of Environment and Energy, of Internal Affairs and of Migration and Asylum, the locations and the construction of the new island RICs on Leros (“Ormos Lakki” location, with a surface area of 25,514.09 m2), Samos (“Zervou” location, with a surface area of 244,789.34 m 2) and Kos (“Mesovouni” location, with a surface area of 25,514.09 m2) were decided.748 During 2019, 950 requests from homeless asylum seekers or asylum seekers under precarious living conditions on the mainland were sent from the Directorate for the Protection of Asylum Seekers (DPAS) to the Reception and Identification Service (RIS), for a place in an open accommodation facility on the mainland. Only 55 applicants were finally offered an accommodation place in a facility (5.7%). 749 Relevant data has not been provided since 2020 yet some indications of ongoing and new challenges, including following the termination of the ESTIA program, can be inferred from the observations of GCR’s Social Unit in 2022. In 2022, more than 146 asylum applicants (families, single-headed families, and individual applicants) reached GCR’s Social Unit to request support with accessing accommodation in the context of reception. In 52 cases (71 persons) GCR’s Social Unit referred the applicants to the competent service and the applicants were placed either in the ESTIA accommodation programme (up to March 2022) or in camps. The reminder (75 persons) denied to even be referred, after being informed that they would only be able to receive reception conditions in a camp. Overall, in GCR’s experience the termination of ESTIA and the transformation of Greece’s reception system into one near unilaterally focused on isolated, camp-based accommodation, has ‘resulted in many people losing their trust in the country’s Reception system, preferring to search on their own for alternatives to cover their needs, despite the fact that this increases the risk of being again exposed to violence and exploitation’.750 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 Article 30 (4) and (5) L. 4686/2020 amending articles 8 and 10 of L. 4375/2016 respectively. JMD 2945/2020 on the ‘Establishment of Temporary Reception Structures for Third-Country Nationals or Stateless Persons who have applied for international protection’, Gov. Gazette 1016/Β/24-3-2020. JMD 3/5262, ‘Establishment of the Open Facility for the hospitality of asylum seekers and persons belonging to vulnerable groups in Elaionas Attica Region’, 18 September 2015, Gov. Gazette B2065/18.09.2015; JMD 3.2/6008 ‘Establishment of the Open Facility for the temporary reception of applicant of international protection’, 18 September 2015, Gov. Gazette B’ 1940/6.06.2017. JMD 3/14762, ‘Establishment of Open Facilities for the Temporary Hospitality of applicant for international protection’, Gov. Gazette Β’ 3720/16.11.2016. Ministerial decision 4512/19.05.2020 of the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Gov. Gazette Government Gazette, Volume of Special Position Employees and Administration Bodies of the Public Sector and the Broader Public Sector Agencies, no.381/23-05-2021. JMD 4712, 4711 and 5099, Gov. Gazette 2043/Β/30-5-2020. Idem. GCR, ‘Evictions, homelessness and setbacks to integration’, 30 November 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3Lwyh8f. 160