After 9 months without financial support, people seeking asylum in Greece are struggling to meet their basic needs.
Joint statement by Mobile Info Team, I Have Rights, Equal Legal Aid, Refugee Legal Support and Avocats Sans Frontières France.
The undersigned organisations are in contact with asylum seekers living in refugee camps throughout Greece who report desperation at the ongoing lack of cash assistance payments, which has left people in the asylum procedure without any income since summer 2024. For some who face lengthy delays in the processing of their asylum applications, this has meant waiting for months on end in isolated camps, with severe limitations on access to basic items and healthcare.
Financial aid constitutes a fundamental aspect of material reception conditions as defined in EU and Greek law. Alarmingly, applicants have not received cash payments since October 2024, when payments for the months of May and June 2024 were received.
Mobile Info Team is in contact with people living in mainland refugee camps who are struggling to meet their basic needs – including families, people with disabilities, and those with medical issues. People share that the lack of cash assistance impacts every aspect of their lives, including access to basic necessities such as hygiene items and sanitary towels, which are not distributed systematically by the Greek government to asylum seekers in camps. The lack of cash also impacts access to healthcare, as asylum seekers must purchase their own medication, and transport from camps to hospitals is not provided systematically or only in emergency situations.
On Samos, the absence of cash assistance exacerbates the already degrading and isolated living conditions in the Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC). I Have Rights consistently receives reports from clients about the inadequate and insufficient provision of drinking water and food. Without cash assistance, it is more challenging for persons to compensate for the lack of material support provided by Greek authorities. This situation is further worsened by the remote location of the CCAC, nearly 7km from the town of Vathy, where essential services and NGOs are accessible. The lack of financial support prevents people from affording the bus fare to access legal and other essential services and meet their basic needs.
The interruptions to cash assistance compound systemic deficiencies in the running of refugee camps in Greece, including deplorable living conditions, the dilapidated state of accommodation containers, limited access to interpreters, and the policy of isolation whereby camps are located far from urban centres and with limited possibilities for civil society and other support groups to enter inside.
The lack of cash assistance is particularly stark on the mainland, where people reside in camps for long periods of time, in some cases in remote facilities tens of kilometres from cities where they can access support.
In effect, asylum seekers are forced to work (or rely on the support of family and friends) while they await decisions on their asylum claims, as otherwise they are unable to survive in camps. However, if they then receive a positive decision on their asylum claim, they will not be eligible for accessing support under the Helios+ integration programme, because in order to be eligible to enter Helios+ recognised refugees must be outside the labour market.
To date, the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum has not published any information on the stop to cash assistance, despite statements issued by civil society groups in September last year. The reason for the interruption of this vital service remains unclear.
The cash assistance programme is financed under the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) [1] and is intended to allow Greece to meet its legal obligations to provide material reception conditions to asylum seekers which enable people to obtain a dignified standard of living.
Demands to the Greek State:
- Immediately resume payments of cash assistance to asylum seekers
- Ensure that applicants receive backdated payments
- Ensure that cash assistance payments are made immediately following registration of an asylum claim
- In cases where cash payments are delayed and the individual has been granted international protection, ensure that retroactive payments are made
- Ensure that basic items are distributed systematically to asylum seekers in camps, meeting their basic needs
- Remove the unemployment requirement from the Helios+ eligibility criteria
Demands to the European Commission:
- Take action to ensure that EU funds disbursed for the purpose of cash assistance are properly managed by Greece such that it meets its legal obligations and people seeking international protection receive the support that they need to meet their basic human needs
[1] It is difficult to calculate the exact amount of missed cash assistance payments since July 2024, given the lack of publicly available data on the numbers of people eligible for material reception conditions (including cash assistance) in Greek refugee camps. The last official figures published by the Ministry of Migration regarding numbers of residents in refugee camps indicate that there were 23,488 people entitled to material reception conditions across the territory at the end of December 2023. Given that arrivals increased in 2024 compared to the previous year, and asylum seekers were forced to remain in the procedure for longer periods of time due to extensive delays, we can assume that the Greek government has failed to disburse millions of euros of EU funds since July 2024, to asylum seekers who were eligible for cash assistance payments.
SIGNATORIES:
Avocats Sans Frontières France
Equal Legal Aid
Greek Forum of Migrants
I Have Rights
InterEuropean Human Aid (IHA)
Mobile Info Team
Refugee Legal Support
Samos Volunteers
Second Tree
