Accommodation on the Eastern Aegean islands: 31 December 2023 Island Lesvo s Chios Samos Leros Kos Others Total Closed-Controlled Centres Nominal Occupancy capacity MoMA Nominal capacity Occupanc y UAM accommodation Nominal Occupanc capacity y Other facilities Nominal capacity Occupanc y 8,000 5,390 0 0 193 152 352 0 1,014 3,650 2,150 2,923 17,737 1,082 3,890 2,192 3,360 15,914 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 15 226 12 15 179 352 0 Source: National Coordination Centre for border Control, Immigration and Asylum, National Situational Picture regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (31/12/2023), 1 January 2024, available at: https://migration.gov.gr/en/statistika/. 2. Conditions in reception facilities Indicators: Conditions in Reception Facilities 1. Are there instances of asylum seekers not having access to reception accommodation because of a shortage of places? Yes No 2. What is the average length of stay of asylum seekers in the reception centres? Varies 3. Are unaccompanied children ever accommodated with adults in practice? Yes 4. Are single women and men accommodated separately? Depends/subject to availability of space/capacity Yes No No Article 59(1) of the Asylum Code provides that material reception conditions must provide asylum seekers with an adequate standard of living that guarantees their subsistence and protects their physical and mental health, based on respect for human dignity. On 27 September 2023, after many years, the launch of a complaints mechanism operating under the responsibility of the fundamental rights officer (FRO) of the MoMA was announced.963 As per the relevant announcement and guidance published by the MoMA, the mechanism is accessible to any third-country national who considers they have been “directly affected by state actions or omissions and […] that one or more of his/her fundamental rights have been violated due to those actions or omissions, during access to territory and/or reception and/or asylum procedures in Greece”.964 Complaints need to submitted in writing and by name, and can either be filled online, in a relevant section established on the MoMA’s website, or sent by email or post to the MoMA’s FRO. Though in principle a positive development, the requirement for complainants to submit a complaint in writing, which can currently only be done either in Greek or English,965 and by name, seems to a priori hinder applicant’s potential for accessing this mechanism on their own, either on account of language barriers or due to potential fear of disclosing their name in a document that may attribute fundamental rights violations to actions or omission of the Greek administration, while their asylum applications are still pending. Therefore, the effectiveness of this mechanism remains to be seen. 963 964 965 MoMA, Launch of the Complaints Mechanism, 27 September 2023, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/8wyzzk2r. MoMA, Complaint Form, general guidance, available at: https://tinyurl.com/3nhnsumz, p.1. Ibid. 193