ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ: ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

166 The ‘hotspot’ approach: key findings from Greece Specifically, according to Article 8(2) L 4375/2016, the Reception and Identifica- tion Service is competent for: (a) Registration, identification and data verification, medical screening, identifi- cation of vulnerable persons, the provision of information for international pro- tection and return procedures. The Service is also responsible for the temporary stay of third-country nationals or stateless persons entering the country in viola- tion of the legal formalities and for their referral to the appropriate reception or temporary accommodation structures; 64 (b) The establishment, operation and supervision of centres and structures for the purposes of those procedures; (c) The establishment, operation and supervision of Open Temporary Reception fa- cilities for third-country nationals or stateless persons who have requested inter- national protection; (d) The establishment, operation and supervision of Open Temporary Accommoda- tion Structures for third-country nationals or stateless persons who are under a return, removal or readmission procedure or whose removal has been postponed. For the sake of clarity, since the implementation of EU – Turkey statement, it is necessary to mention that, all newcomers are registered by the Reception and Identification Service. However, the relevant procedures are concluded within one day or two, raising concerns regarding the quality of the procedure and mostly the possibility of identifying non – obvious vulnerabilities within such a short time peri- od. 65 The Asylum Service has offices or mobile units in the hotspots and is respon- sible for the admissibility interview, access to the Asylum procedure and in merit examination of the claims, as per Law 4375/2016. Finally, to achieve this goal, different actors would work alongside the Greek au- thorities. In particular, the Reception and Identification Service has outsourced medical and psychosocial care provision to NGOs , namely Médecins du Monde (MdM), PRAKSIS and Medical Intervention (MedIn). Information is provided by UN- HCR and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) staff, while interpretation services are currently provided by IOM, EASO and NGO Metadrasi. 66 The police, port authorities and the army are involved in various parts of the procedures in an auxiliary way, guarding the external area of the hotspot facilities, as well as for the identification and verification of nationalities of newcomers. 64. See also Article 9 L 4375/2016, outlining the “reception and identification procedures”. 65. See e.g. on victims of trafficking, AIRE Centre and ECRE, With Greece: Recommendations for refugee protection, July 2016, available at: http://www.asylumineurope.org/sites/ default/files/resources/with_greece.pdf. 66. The implementation of the hotspots in Italy and Greece, a study, AIDA REPORT, last updated: 26/09/17 http://www.asylumineurope.org/reports/country/greece .