involvement of the EU Agencies, for example Frontex agents. Following the enactment of L 4375/2016, the FRS was succeeded by the Reception and Identification Service (RIS). The RIS is currently subsumed under the General Secretariat for Reception of Asylum Seekers of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum.218 The IPA, in force since 1 January 2020, regulated the functioning of the RICs and the conduct of the reception and identification procedure in a similar way. Under the Asylum Code,219 the relevant regulations were codified to include Closed Controlled Access Centre of Islands (CCACI.).220 Article 38 of the Asylum Code, provides that: ‘All third-country nationals and stateless persons who enter without complying with the legal formalities in the country, shall be submitted to reception and identification procedures.’221 Reception and identification procedures are carried out in five stages:222 1. Information on rights and obligations, transfer to other facilities, the possibility to seek protection or voluntary return, in a language the person understands or in a language that a person may reasonably be supposed to understand and in an accessible manner, by the Information Unit of the Reception and Identification Centre (RIC) or the Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) or in case of mass arrivals, by the Police, Coast Guard or Armed Forces;223 2. Channelling to reception and identification procedures: According to the law, newly arrived persons should be directly transferred to a RIC or CCAC, where they are subject to a 5-day “restriction of freedom within the premises of the centre” (περιορισμός της ελευθερίας εντός του κέντρου), which can be further extended by a maximum of 25 days if reception and identification procedures have not been completed.224 This restriction of freedom entails “the prohibition to leave the Centre and the obligation to remain in it”.225 Such a restriction is ordered on the basis of a written, duly motivated decision;226 3. Registration and medical checks, including identification of vulnerable groups;227 4. Referral to the asylum procedure: As soon as asylum applications are made, the Special Rapid Response Units (Ειδικά Κλιμάκια Ταχείας Συνδρομής) of the Asylum Service distribute the cases according to country of origin. Subsequently, they proceed to prioritisation of applications according to nationality (see Prioritised Examination);228 5. Further referral and transfer to other reception or detention facilities depending on the circumstances of the case.229 2.2.1 Reception and identification procedures on the islands At the early stages of the implementation of the EU-Türkiye Statement, individuals arriving on the Eastern Aegean islands and thus subject to the Statement, were systematically and indiscriminately detained. Such measure was imposed either de facto, under the pretext of a decision restricting the individual’s freedom within the premises of the RIC for a period of maximum 25 days, or under a deportation decision together with a detention order. This differs from the “geographical restriction” on the island, mentioned below. In practice, those arriving on the Eastern Aegean islands and falling under the EU-Türkiye Statement are subject to a “restriction of freedom of movement” decision issued by the Head of the RIC. The decision is 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 Article1 PD, 18/2020 (ΦΕΚ 34/Α/19-2-2020), available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3wfJUHz. Asylum Code, available in Greek: https://bit.ly/3Ek1hfp. See also art. 12 of PD 77/2023 on the Establishment of Closed Controlled Access Centers. Article 38(1) Asylum Code. Article 38(2) Asylum Code. Article 39 Asylum Code. Article 40 Asylum Code. Ibid. Article 40(a) Asylum Code. Article 41 Asylum Code. Article 42(c) Asylum Code. Article 43(a) Asylum Code. 57