Furthermore, the lack of interpretation in the regional asylum offices and units of the Asylum service since end April 2024 due to the suspension of interpretation services by the NGO METAdrasi because of several months of delayed payments from the MoMA, and despite interpretation services being funded by the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), resulted in the serious dysfunction of the Asylum Service and the reception system, even for the simplest procedures.929 According to MoMA’s official data released as part of parliamentary scrutiny regarding the reception of asylum applicants in Greece until the end June 2024 and as analysed by RSA,930 there is a severe shortage of interpretation services. There are only 69 interpreters in all structures, thus only one interpreter for every 267 people and with the majority of structures (20 out of 32 structures) not having an interpreter at all. 931 The recurring gaps in interpretation services hinder access to asylum and to necessary services, including healthcare. As highlighted in November 2024, in a joint letter by 36 civil society organisations:932 “Language barriers due to lack of interpretation can be particularly grave for people with vulnerabilities and urgent or complex medical needs, including those suffering from chronic illnesses or mental health conditions, as well as gender-based violence (GBV) survivors. With limited or non-existent interpreter assistance, vulnerability assessments are not always conducted properly. Beyond being a procedural oversight, lack of interpretation can further be a direct violation of the fundamental right to healthcare, as people are often left unable to communicate their symptoms, receive accurate diagnoses, or understand treatment instructions”. In this context, in December 2024, and in particular for the violation of the rights (access to asylum, to family reunification, to healthcare etc.) of vulnerable persons due to the chronic lack of interpretation, GCR sent written interventions before the competent authorities, including the Greek Ombudsperson, for more than 60 vulnerable asylum applicants. Lastly, a new, severely worrying practice identified in early 2024 in the Samos CCAC, where amidst increased arrivals, people have been residing in deplorable conditions, raises further questions as to applicants’ effective access to reception conditions. Namely, as observed in February 2024, 933 applicants are asked whether they would like to sign a solemn declaration stating that they do not wish to reside in the Samos CCAC or any other regional facility of the RIS, which in practice, seems to amount to being called to choose between prolonging their stay in a facility that utterly fails to meet reception standards, or renouncing their right to reception conditions, in order to be able to escape these conditions. 934 Moreover, based on the same observations, upon provided with this choice, applicants were not informed that, if they agree, they can lose access to the financial aid provided in the context of reception and, for those that may be granted international protection, to the Helios integration program, as both have a residency requirement strictly linked to ongoing stay in the Greek reception system. This practice stopped during the year 2024. A similar practice was observed in the Evros RIC, which since its operationalisation in 2013 has been exclusively functioning as a closed facility; to the extent that GCR is aware, applicants there were also called to sign that they had been informed, with the support of an interpreter, of the possible consequences of signing the aforementioned declaration935 (See Reception and Identification Procedure). 2. Forms and levels of material reception conditions Indicators: Forms and Levels of Material Reception Conditions 1. Amount of the monthly financial allowance/vouchers granted to asylum applicants as of 31 December 2024 (in original currency and in €): € 150 (€ 75 if accommodation is catered) Material reception conditions may be provided in kind and/or in the form of financial aid. 936 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 GCR, News from the field, November 2024, available here. RSA, Persisting severe reception deficiencies in understaffed camps - Official 2024 statistics, 5 September 2024, available here. Ibid. Reliefweb, Open Letter: Put an end to the disruption of interpretation services still undermining asylum seekers’ rights in Greece, Open letter signed by 36 NGOs, 1 November 2024, available here. Information acquired during the 15 February 2024 Legal Actors Working Group and re-confirmed during the 22 February 2024 National Protection Working Group. As further reported in February 2024 by legal aid actors under the newly established Border Legal Aid subworking group, which covers the islands of Lesvos, Samos and Kos, the text of the solemn declaration is as follows: “I do not wish to be accommodated at the CCAC of Samos or any other regional service of RIS. I will live on my own and the address is…… and I have been informed of the consequences of my nonappearance before the examining authority”. Information acquired on 12 March 2024. As per information inter alia shared during the CEAS sub-working group of 4 March 2024. Article 59(1) Asylum Code. 179