A/HRC/32/50/Add.1 members of parliament. It is the first time that an entire party and its leadership have faced trial in Greece. The trial, which began in April 2015, was set to last for at least one year, and involve 300 witnesses and 120 lawyers. At the time of writing, the trial was on its forty--fifth session, with a complete reading of the indictment and the questioning of the Greek police officers who had been called on duty the night of the crime. E. Refugees and asylum seekers 55. The Special Rapporteur was informed by UNHCR-Greece of the arrival of about 10,000 refugees and 32,000 asylum seekers during 2014; a similar number had arrived in the first half of 2015 alone. At the time of writing, the number of refugees and asylum seekers was expected to reach 900,000, of which 56 per cent came from the Syrian Arab Republic, 25 per cent from Afghanistan, 10 per cent from Iraq and the rest from Pakistan and other countries.21 According to a UNHCR spokesperson, the largest number of arrivals have been on Lesvos, Chios, Samos and the Dodecanese islands, particularly Kos and Leros. Smaller numbers of refugees have also been crossing into Greece through the land border with Turkey at Evros.22 56. The pace and scale of immigration flows to Greece continue to cause tremendous pressure on the Government, as the authorities struggle to identify and register the persons involved. The three existing reception facilities in Lesvos, Chios and Samos are severely overcrowded. Refugees awaiting registration, including families with children, have no choice but to sleep in the open. In addition, many refugees landing on remote beaches, including older people and small children, have had to walk for miles carrying their belongings to the nearest reception centre because of a lack of transport. Similarly, there is no regular provision of food or drinking water to refugees, unless they are accommodated in police-run facilities for registration and processing. 57. The economic crisis has also hit civil society organizations, which used to provide services to asylum seekers and refugees. Refugees and asylum seekers are further discriminated against in their search for accommodation, social services and employment. 23 Some refugees and asylum seekers have reported being treated as criminals by the police as well.24 Many refugee organizations have pointed out that cases of racist violence by the police are not reported, either to the authorities or to public hospitals. 58. The Special Rapporteur has also been informed of the extensive use of administrative detention, which is being applied to migrants and asylum-seekers without individual assessments.25 Consequently, asylum seekers, including those from vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied minors not properly registered as adults upon arrest and 21 22 23 24 25 UNHCR, “Refugee/migrants emergency response—Mediterranean”, available from http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/country.php?id=83http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/ country.php?id=83. “UNHCR boosts presence in Greek islands to cope with soaring refugee arrivals”, 5 June 2015, available from www.unhcr.org/557171779.html. According to UNHCR, in 2013, the regional authorities issued and renewed 6,952 work permits for asylum seekers and rejected 1,620 requests while, in the same period, there were more than 33,000 active cases of applications for international protection pending with the police and the new Asylum Service (see “Greece as a country of asylum: UNHCR observations on the current situation of asylum in Greece—December 2014”). Deutsche Welle, “Racism increases in Greece”, 25 April 2013, available from www.dw.com/en/racism-increases-in-greece/a-16773119. European Migration Network report on the use of detention and alternatives to detention in the context of immigration policies in Greece (2014). Available from http://ec.europa.eu. 15