Public healthcare for asylum seekers

Seeking to ensure that asylum seekers arriving on the Greek islands from Turkey have access to the public health system, the government is reportedly planning to provide them with a provisional number after the new year rather than a social security number (AMKA).

This number will not give asylum seekers all the legal rights deriving from the acquisition of an AMKA number, such as the right to work for six months, but they will have access to public healthcare.

The abolition of AMKA numbers for asylum seekers last July left around 52,900 migrants and refugees without access to the public health system.