{"id":26370,"date":"2026-03-26T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/?p=26370"},"modified":"2026-03-30T13:32:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T11:32:01","slug":"asylum-procedure-and-reception-statistics-in-greece-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/asylum-procedure-and-reception-statistics-in-greece-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Asylum procedure and reception statistics in Greece in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"26370\" class=\"elementor elementor-26370 elementor-26352\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-89dc9d0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"89dc9d0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-da3b4eb elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"da3b4eb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Asylum procedure and reception statistics in Greece in 2025<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2943a7e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2943a7e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) publishes its <\/span><b>annual record of official statistics on the asylum procedure and the reception system in Greece in 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, drawing on statistics published by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum and figures disclosed in response to parliamentary questions. This analysis builds on RSA&#8217;s regular documentation of the operation of the asylum process in Greece, which has consistently highlighted chronic deficiencies and gaps in both the asylum procedure and reception conditions (see for 2024: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/asylum-procedure-statistics-in-greece-2024\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Asylum procedure<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/statistics-on-refugee-reception-camps-2024\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reception<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The full statistics are presented in detail in the two notes below.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-542a61d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"542a61d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Asylum<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e919821 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"e919821\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_asylums_stats-1024x576.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-26371\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_asylums_stats-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_asylums_stats-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_asylums_stats-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_asylums_stats-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_asylums_stats-1250x703.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_asylums_stats-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_asylums_stats.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9daa38c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9daa38c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to official data of the Greek authorities, a total of <\/span><b>52,180 arrivals<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> were recorded throughout 2025. During the year, <\/span><b>55,383 initial asylum applications<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> were lodged in Greece, of which 51,318 with RIS services. <\/span><b>Afghanistan <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was by far the main <\/span><b>country of origin<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, followed by <\/span><b>Syria <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>Somalia<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; nationalities for which the Greek government persists in designating T\u00fcrkiye as a &#8220;safe third country&#8221;. The Plenary of the Council of State <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/council-of-state-annuls-the-designation-of-turkey-as-a-safe-third-country\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">quashed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the 2023 <\/span><b>Safe Third Countries list<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for want of due reasoning; before the publication of the full text of the ruling, however, the government adopted a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/new-designation-of-turkiye-as-a-safe-third-country-for-refugees-in-defiant-contempt-of-the-greek-council-of-states-ruling\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new, identical list<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which has been subject to fresh proceedings before the Council of State since <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/turkey-as-safe-third-country-for-refugees-returns-to-the-council-of-state\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">June 2025<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2025, a total of 6,251 <\/span><b>subsequent asylum applications <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were also lodged, of which 1,383 were second or onward subsequent claims subject to a <\/span><b>fee <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of initially 100 and now 300 \u20ac per person; a rule that exists in no other EU Member State and whose legality is yet to be decided by the Council of State.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than \u00b2\u2044\u2083 of the asylum claims examined on the merits at first instance were granted: the <\/span><b>overall recognition rate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> stood at <\/span><b>70.6%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with recognition rates remaining extremely high for nationals of <\/span><b>Afghanistan (99.8%), Sudan (99.4%), Palestine (98.5%) and Syria (91%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Official figures confirm for yet another year that <\/span><b>the majority of people seeking asylum in Greece have international protection needs and merit protection<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The majority of negative decisions concerned manifestly unfounded applications rejected in the accelerated procedure, almost exclusively based on the national safe countries of origin list.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2025 saw a continuation of the <\/span><b>systematic, arbitrary use of the border procedure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to people who made asylum applications inside the CCAC of the Eastern Aegean islands, in contravention of both the prohibition on applying the border procedure to claims made outside &#8220;borders&#8221; or &#8220;transit zones&#8221; and the prohibition on applying the border procedure to applications that are not deemed inadmissible or manifestly unfounded. However, the vast majority of decisions issued in the border procedure were <\/span><b>positive<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, leading to an extremely high recognition rate of <\/span><b>91.2%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At <\/span><b>second instance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the recognition rate fell further to <\/span><b>8.5%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, against a backdrop of irregularities that have been found unlawful by domestic and European courts (dismissal of appeals due to failure to appear in person or to promptly submit a residence certificate in a reception facility; dismissal as out of time partly due to unlawful notification of decisions via email; and operation of Appeals Committees in single-judge format, which has been declared unconstitutional).<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, the <\/span><b>approval rate of applications for judicial review at the administrative courts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> stood at <\/span><b>47.3%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2025, compared to 20% in 2022. The administrative courts thus <\/span><b>quashed almost half of the asylum decisions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> they reviewed on points of law.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5fe89af elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5fe89af\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Reception<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1834602 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1834602\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_reception_stats-1024x576.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-26372\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_reception_stats-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_reception_stats-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_reception_stats-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_reception_stats-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_reception_stats-1250x703.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_reception_stats-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/202603_reception_stats.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08266e2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"08266e2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b>22,622 people resided in camps <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">managed by the RIS of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum at the end of 2025, compared to 27,100 at the end of 2024. The main country of origin of residents in camps at the end of the year was <\/span><b>Sudan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, followed by <\/span><b>Afghanistan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>Syria<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>Egypt <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>Iraq<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The total included <\/span><b>3,882 children<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At least <\/span><b>25%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of residents (5,854 people) had <\/span><b>vulnerabilities identified <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by the Ministry, including survivors of torture and other forms of violence. Despite repeated government announcements regarding the creation of alternative housing, <\/span><b>camps remain the only form of housing offered<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to people seeking protection in Greece, regardless of vulnerability.<\/span><\/p><p><b>Persistent, chronic gaps in reception conditions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are recorded. The programme for <\/span><b>provision of the financial allowance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to which asylum seekers are entitled came to a close at the end of March 2025 and was not renewed. Since then, not a single asylum seeker of the 22,622 people who lived in camps has received a single euro in financial support from the state to cover necessary daily expenses. At the end of 2025, a total of <\/span><b>58 doctors <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were deployed throughout the RIS camps (one doctor per 390 people) while <\/span><b>at least 5 camps had no doctor at all<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><b>168 interpreters <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were deployed in RIS camps at the end of 2025, <\/span><b>exclusively through emergency provision of staff by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9f13dd2 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"9f13dd2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-048f1a8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"048f1a8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><b><i>Detailed statistics on the reception system and the asylum procedure are available in the notes below.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f0930b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3f0930b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;,&quot;sticky&quot;:&quot;bottom&quot;,&quot;sticky_on&quot;:[&quot;desktop&quot;,&quot;tablet&quot;],&quot;sticky_offset&quot;:0,&quot;sticky_effects_offset&quot;:0,&quot;sticky_anchor_link_offset&quot;:0}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0c297a1 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"0c297a1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03_RSA_\u03a5\u03c0\u03bf\u03b4\u03bf\u03c7\u03ae2025_EN.pdf\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Reception Note  (pdf)<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5e4c33e elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"5e4c33e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03_RSA_\u0386\u03c3\u03c5\u03bb\u03bf2025_EN.pdf\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Asylum Procedure Note (pdf)<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u0395\u03c4\u03ae\u03c3\u03b9\u03b1 \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03b3\u03c1\u03b1\u03c6\u03ae \u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u03b5\u03c0\u03af\u03c3\u03b7\u03bc\u03c9\u03bd \u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03ce\u03bd \u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c7\u03b5\u03af\u03c9\u03bd \u03b3\u03b9\u03b1 \u03c4\u03bf 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":26372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[244,141,243,143,249,5,274,137],"tags":[348,18],"class_list":{"0":"post-26370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-asylum-seekers","8":"category-detention-and-reception-conditions","9":"category-facts-and-figures","10":"category-integration-and-social-rights","11":"category-camps","12":"category-publications","13":"category-quality-of-the-asylum-procedure","14":"category-topics","15":"tag-348","16":"tag-featured"},"menu_order":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26370"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26426,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26370\/revisions\/26426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsaegean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}