A/HRC/35/25/Add.2 (for refugee status determination, for negative decisions, for subsidiary protection, and on the admissibility procedure) was 2,032 decisions per month. 16 By early 2017, the number of trained staff of the Asylum Service had nearly tripled. In order to guarantee effective access to the asylum procedure, the Special Rapporteur urges the Asylum Service to further increase its capacity with trained staff, so that migrants have quick access to the procedure, with due regard to the need to maintain the quality of the asylum procedure. Furthermore, increased capacity would reduce the overcrowded situation on the islands by allowing transfers of asylum seekers to the mainland. The Special Rapporteur was informed by the Government that by early 2017, the number of trained staff in the Asylum Service had nearly tripled and the average duration of the asylum procedure at first instance was 72 days. 72. At the time of the visit, the Asylum Service had initiated a pre-registration exercise for asylum seekers on the mainland, for them to register their interest to apply for asylum, to provide them with information and asylum seeker documents providing protection from deportation and to give access to services. The Special Rapporteur notes that the preregistration operation had been successfully completed by August 2016, and pre-registered asylum seekers had been fully registered by the end of February 2017, had received interview appointments and had the right to work. 73. In order to improve access to the different procedures, the Asylum Service inaugurated a new system to make appointments by registration through Skype. The Special Rapporteur observed some serious flaws in the Skype-based system, such as limited time slots allocated for specific languages. The system fails to take into account the insufficient computer skills of applicants and the lack of access to equipment or access to the Internet, especially for those in open centres on the Greek mainland. In order to help address those weaknesses, the Asylum Service is cooperating with NGOs that provide assistance to asylum seekers. 74. The Special Rapporteur is seriously concerned about obstructions in accessing international protection and observes that the lack of an effective and quick registration system puts migrants at risk of arrest, detention and deportation. At the time of the visit, no free legal aid system was in place for Greece, and NGOs providing legal assistance had only limited capacity. He notes that in mid-2016, a free legal aid system had been put in place by UNHCR and NGOs with funding provided by the European Union. 75. Article 51 (6) of Law 4375/2016 provides that asylum applications from vulnerable persons may be registered and examined as a matter of priority. In the absence of a functioning system to detect vulnerabilities, it is uncertain whether this provision could always be applied. The Special Rapporteur was informed however, that the Reception and Identification Service, as well as UNHCR and NGOs, refer vulnerable persons to the Asylum Service. In addition, if at any stage of the asylum procedure vulnerability is detected, examination of the claim is immediately prioritized. B. Access to information 76. Because of the changes that the European Union-Turkey statement had triggered in the complex asylum procedure, the Special Rapporteur observed a lack of access to information on the rights of migrants and on procedures, and timelines for applying for protection remained unclear. The Special Rapporteur has been informed that, since then, serious efforts have since been undertaken, in cooperation with the Reception and Identification Service, UNHCR and NGOs, to address this, with the enhancement of the website of the Asylum Service and of its social media accounts, and the creation of an app for mobile phones. Leaflets have been printed and disseminated to the reception and identification centres and open reception facilities. Such efforts should be pursued. 77. In the absence of central coordination, and with the multiplication of different actors in the camps, much misinformation circulates, which creates confusion and mistrust among 16 12 Ibid.