Donations

Asylum seekers in Greece have once again been denied their legal right to dignified living conditions after months of delay in payments of cash assistance, leaving people without an income and unable to meet their basic needs. Beneficiaries of the cash assistance program have been informed via text message that delays are occurring. However, there has been no public announcement from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum regarding the cause of the delays or how long they will last, leaving people in the dark about when to expect payments to resume.

Since the end of December, asylum-seekers in Greece have been receiving ‘cash cards’ as part of an agreement between the Greek government and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). According to the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum, cards have been distributed to all eligible asylum-seekers. In January, overdue payments for October and November were made, with the expectation that disbursements will resume functioning normally at the beginning of March. The new distribution system is based on information from the Greek Asylum Service (GAS) database, and all registered asylum-seekers are entitled to cash assistance until a final decision on their asylum application is delivered.