The First Weeks of the EU Pact on Greece: Stalled Procedures and Reduced Safeguards
The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into force in June 2026 with the promise of bringing order, efficiency, and solidarity to Europe’s asylum system. On Lesvos, its early implementation tells a very different story.
Instead of clarity, the first weeks have been characterised by confusion, administrative delays, and more restrictions on people seeking protection. From stalled registration procedures to diminished access to basic services, the reality on the ground reflects not a system in transition, but one that is further entrenching exclusion and containment.
The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum
The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into force in June 2026, after having been adopted in 2024. It consists of ten legislative instruments, theoretically thought with the aim of reshaping how the EU manages asylum, reception, border screening, responsibility-sharing and crisis response. In reality, however, the Pact has a dramatic effect on people seeking asylum, introducing new obstacles and reducing their safeguards.
As noted in a joint statement published by several organisations, the implementation of the Pact in Greece “is a reflection of the migration policies of the Greek government of the past years, opting for the most restrictive and punishing options that are available within the new EU Regulations and Directives”. This happens through the expansion of the grounds for detention or detention-like conditions, the weakening of procedural safeguards, the impact on timeframes for asylum procedures, the weakening of vulnerability assessments and safeguards, and the access restrictions for lawyers and NGOs.
The Pact introduces an initial screening procedure lasting a maximum of 7 days and consisting in checks regarding health, vulnerability and security threats. Even if the screening takes place within the European territory, the new legislation introduces a fiction of non-entry: persons are treated as not having entered the EU territory, despite being physically present, creating a legal vacuum with significant consequences in terms of reduction of rights granted. The screening is characterised by the registration of a massive amount of biometric data in EURODAC, including facial image data, lowering the threshold for data collection from 14 to 6 years old and increasing the periods for which data can be stored. This creates worries concerning the violation of Articles 7 and 8 of the EU Charter, regulating private life and personal data protection, and also the possibility of these data being used for return purposes or transferred to third countries.
The ultimate goal of the screening is deciding if a person on the move is redirected to a regular asylum procedure, a border procedure or a return procedure. The border procedure is introduced by the new legislation, it takes place in the border area and can last up to 12 weeks. It consists of an accelerated procedure designed for those applicants who come from so-called “safe countries of origin”, a controversial definition for countries with a low asylum recognition rate, and who are therefore expected not to receive international protection. The border procedure is considered problematic since it makes it more difficult to assess each case individually and can lead to the administrative detention of applicants, restricting their freedom of movement. The screening procedure can also lead to the decision that a person is not eligible for any asylum procedure and should thus be deported through a return procedure. In this case, the screening decision could be theoretically appealed, but without a suspension effect: this leads to the possibility that a person on the move is deported before a definitive decision on the case is taken.
The implementation of the Pact in Greece, through the Joint Ministerial Decision No. 120961/2026, raises issues concerning the effectiveness and the quality of the legal support provided to asylum seekers. During the screening stage, applicants can face significant obstacles in contacting a lawyer and speaking with them, thus being penalised and being more likely to face a rejection of their claim and a consequent deportation. Additionally, the new legislation favors the possibility of providing group legal information, instead of information tailored on each individual case, leading people to be less informed about their rights and the best way to face the asylum procedure. Staff of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum is also allowed to participate in the group sessions, an aspect which has led European Lawyers in Lesvos and other organisations to raise concerns regarding confidentiality during the process. Finally, the Greek government introduced a 250€ bonus for lawyers in case a client decides to renounce an asylum application and opts for voluntary resettlement instead, with serious issues regarding their independence and willingness to advocate for the applicants’ best possible option.
Consequences on Lesvos and in Greece
Despite two years of preparation, the rollout of the Pact in Greece has been marked by significant delays, with immediate consequences for people seeking international protection. On Lesvos, asylum seekers arriving after 12 June must have their claims processed under the framework. Yet, for more than a month, the reception and identification process has been effectively stalled. According to reports from the field and partner organisations, implementing authorities have been awaiting guidance on how to apply the new procedures, registration systems have remained non-operational, and the new screening forms have not been launched.
The human cost of this administrative failure is tangible. Authorities are only collecting basic information, such as fingerprints and personal data, and issuing temporary identifiers, without completing the formal registration required to access rights. This leaves people who have arrived on the island since 12 June in limbo. Without completing registration, asylum seekers are not issued the documentation required to leave the CCAC. For over a month, people have been confined to the camp, often held in isolated sections, unable to access services outside. On Lesvos, reports from partner organisations suggest that between 70 and 100 people have been left waiting for registration, with only a handful of cases processed following the partial launch of a new system. Similar patterns have been confirmed elsewhere, with partners on Samos and the mainland reporting that recent arrivals remain unable to leave the camps due to the lack of registration.
Delays in documentation prevent people from accessing basic services. As people are not allowed to move freely, they are denied access to hygiene, clothing, and community support from NGOs operating outside the camp. At Paréa community center, Collective Aid observed that only in mid-July were some newcomers able to access services outside the camp, a sign that registration is slowly beginning to move. At the same time, legal counselling foreseen under the Pact and national legislation is not yet in place and is expected to be delivered by Greek Bar Associations, potentially remotely, rather than by NGOs, raising further concerns about accessibility.
Further, already ahead of the official implementation day of the Pact, we have seen direct consequences of its provision. Since April, field observations and partner reports indicate a rise in harassment by police and camp authorities, alongside increasing reports of wrongful evictions from the Mavrouvouni CCAC. This also reflects the Pact’s reception provisions, which can end support immediately after a positive asylum decision and leave people with very limited time and few reception options to secure alternative shelter, pushing them into unsafe conditions on the street.
EU and Greek officials have promoted the Pact as a means of bringing order and predictability. However, on Lesvos, the first weeks have produced the exact opposite, with procedural bottlenecks that leave asylum applicants in a state of uncertainty, restrict their freedom of movement and limit access to basic rights. Though connected to a transition period and thus potentially exceptional, the experience on Lesvos suggests an entrenchment of existing patterns of containment, rights violations, and administrative exclusion.
Words by Pietro Malesani and Masimmo Maria Puti, Advocacy Officers in Greece