Meanwhile, as in previous years, during 2024 infrastructure-related problems continued to persist in the Samos CCAC. As reported by RSA in December 2024, there is still a ‘severe shortage of running and drinking water, despite the systems reported by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum regarding water supply and conservation. […] Since there is no connection to a central water system, water is collected and distributed via tanker trucks connected to the facility’s main supply points.’ Moreover, according to the same report: ‘[t]he conditions of the containers was particularly concerning. Many were filthy, infested with bedbugs and cockroaches, while most beds lacked mattresses. Blankets were seemingly shared among residents, while there were broken plumbing fixtures overflowing with sewage, and blackened, dirty sanitary facilities (toilets, sinks, and showers). This situation was evident even in sectors housing families and vulnerable populations, who reportedly live in better conditions’.1048 As regards Lesvos, per a 2024 report by the NGO Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid: “[…] more and more people are being housed in exposed areas of the camp, and in so-called Refugee Housing Units (RHUs), effectively plastic houses, which provide little relief from weather conditions. […] people living in the camp do not have adequate blankets to be sheltered from the cold. The Greek authorities have run out of blankets and stopped providing them, meaning that people who newly arrive receive either no blankets at all or just a flimsy summer blanket.” 1049 As further reported by RSA in December 2024, in Lesvos, living conditions inside the CCAC are characterised, among others, by a lack of hot water, shortages of clothing and blankets, poor-quality food and shortages in medical and psychological support. Regarding the latter, the report refers to the response of the Reception and Identification Service of 11 November 2024, according to which for 3,333 residents “there is only one general practitioner, one gynaecologist, two midwives, six nurses, one laboratory technician, two psychologists, and one social worker in the CCAC. Newly arrived individuals undergo a basic medical check-up, while no psychosocial evaluation is conducted.”1050 Dire conditions were also reported in the Kos CCAC by RSA in December 2024, a primary concern being the severe degradation of the facility's infrastructure, characterised by significant structural defects, inadequate maintenance, and critical failures in sewage and biological treatment systems, often resulting in instances of raw sewage inundation. Further, the provision of food and potable water was reported as insufficient in both quality and quantity, with residents reporting adverse health effects, including dermatological issues, attributable to unsanitary living conditions and a critical lack of essential hygiene products.1051 Ongoing challenges with regards to medical services were also reported. Based on GCR’s presence in the field in Kos, there is a total and chronic lack of adequate medical services, which also impacts locals. There is no capacity to actually screen vulnerabilities or provide them with the health care they need. Unaccompanied and separated children face additional barriers when they reach the CCAC. Until a guardian is appointed, these children have no one to provide them with clothes, shoes or a cell phone to call home and talk to their family. Unaccompanied children also have to spend about two to three weeks in a fenced area called a ‘safe area’ until they are transferred to a shelter for unaccompanied children. There is nothing to do in the safe area, no activities, recreational or otherwise. It is a container surrounded by barbed wire1052.1053 During 2023, similar dire conditions were also reported in the Leros CCAC and the facility’s "safe area.” Shortages of medical personnel and deficiencies in necessities persisted, mirroring the situation at the CCAC. According to UNHCR, two doctors and one psychologist operated inside the facility, while citizens’ collectivity provided basic goods (clothing, shoes, and nappies for children). 1054 In 2024, the situation remained the same, with persistence of water shortages due to “the island’s acute water scarcity and maintenance issues with the desalination plant that supplies the facility”1055 and inadequate medical 1048 1049 1050 1051 1052 1053 1054 1055 RSA, Samos, 10 December 2024, available at https://rsaegean.org/el/samos-2024/. FENIX, A Blanket Violation of Rights: The Lack of Winterisation of the Mavrovouni C.C.A.C, 27 November 2024, available here. RSA, Lesvos, 10 December 2024, available at: https://rsaegean.org/el/lesvos-2024/. RSA, Kos, 10 December 2024, available at: https://rsaegean.org/el/kos-2024/. GCR, Refugee and migrant children arrivals in Greece quadruple this year, press release, 17 July 2024, available here. In the context of their right of reply, submitted on 10 September 2025, the Greek General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection noted that clothes, shoes and communication are provided by the child protection actor operating in the safe area, complementing any distributions made by RIS, and that activities are provided by the staff of the child protection actor as well. Refugee Support Aegean, Leros, What is happening today in the refugee structures on the Aegean islands, https://rsaegean.org/en/leros-2023/. RSA, Leros, 10 December 2024, available at: https://rsaegean.org/en/leros-2024/. 197