Last updated: November 2009
Greece Detention Profile
Traditionally an emigrant-producing country, since the 1990s, Greece has become a key entrance point into the European Union for increasing numbers of migrants, many of whom arrive without appropriate documentation. Between 1993 and 2008, the number of immigrants in Greece quadrupled (Chindea et al. 2008, pp.11-12). Migration pressures have been particularly noticeable in Evros, which shares a land border with Turkey, and on the islands of Samos, Chios, and Lesvos, where immigrants from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East arrive (Pro Asyl 2007; Itano 2009). Greece has responded with a series of measures, including hardened border controls, regularization programmes, and stepped up expulsion efforts (Chindea et al. 2008, p.12). There has also been a dramatic increase in the reported number of apprehensions of both irregular migrants and asylum seekers. In 2005, approximately 40,000 migrants were apprehended; by 2008, the number had jumped to 146,337 (Kehayioylou 2009; Greek Ministry of Interior 2009).
Detention policies. Law 3386 (2005), on Entry, residence and social integration of third-country nationals in the Hellenic territory, provides Greece’s principle legal framework governing entrance and departure of non-citizens (European Parliament 2007, p.92; Pro Asyl 2007, p.19). The law provides for the “imprisonment” and/or expulsion of “foreigners” for a number of infractions related to their residence status. Article 76 provides for “the administrative expulsion of a foreigner” if he/she has committed certain offenses or served a prison sentence of at least one year. Article 82 provides that any person registered on the country’s list of “undesirable foreigners” who illegally enters Greece is subject to a fine of 3,000-10,000 Euros and a three-month prison sentence.
Article 83 of Law 3386 provides specific penalties for non-EU—or “third-country”—nationals, who are subject to a prison sentence of at least three months and a fine of at least 1,500 Euros for attempting to enter or exit Greece without authorization. The law stipulates that the public prosecutor can decide to abstain from pursuing these cases and submit the offender to administrative expulsion instead. If immediate expulsion is not possible, the third-country national may be held in administrative detention under articles 76 and 83. The maximum period of such detention was raised in June 2009 from three to six months (Itano 2009).
While the Ministry of the Interior has overall responsibility for immigration issues, detention facilities—which include specialised centres for administrative detention, ad hoc facilities, and prisons—can be designated by a number of additional ministries, including the Ministry of Public Administration and Decentralization, the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity, the Ministry of Public Order, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Law 3386, Article 81; European Parliament 2007, p.92).
The police and border guards are authorized to apprehend non-citizens and carry out expulsion orders, which can be issued by the public prosecutor or a relevant police director (Law 3386, Article 76). The police are also responsible for security arrangements in detention facilities (European Parliament 2007, p.92; Law 3386, Article 81). The European Committee on the Prevention of Torture (CPT) noted during a 2008 visit to Greece that there was a lack of coordination between the various agencies involved in immigration detention (CPT 2009).
Although Law 3386 provides that asylum seekers are exempt from expulsion (Article 79), Amnesty International stated in a 2009 report that they can be detained for up to 60 days (AI 2009). In addition, observers have noted that many asylum seekers are prevented by police from filing asylum claims (Brothers 2007). A particularly violent example of such practice is provided in Amnesty International’s 2009 report: “On 26 October [2008], police officers outside the Aliens Directorate in Athens attacked a crowd of asylum-seekers waiting to file applications, killing one man and injuring several others. … The Directorate has reportedly been refusing to accept new applications for the past two months” (AI 2009, p.157).
Access to asylum in Greece is a growing concern due to the fact that as a major point of entry into the Schengen area, the country shoulders much of the responsibility for asylum seekers arriving to Europe. According to the Dublin II Convention, asylum claims must be processed in the country of entry to the Schengen area, placing a heavy burden on Greece’s infrastructure (HRW 2008). As of July 2009, Greece was involved in diplomatic efforts to attempt to get other EU countries to help share its immigration burden (Itano 2009). Finland halted all returns to Greece under the Dublin II Convention precisely due to concerns over the Greek asylum procedure (AI 2009, p.147).
A number of human rights bodies have criticized Greece’s detention practices. AI reported in 2005 that detention centres bear a striking resemblance to prisons, arguing that there is little difference between incarceration of criminals and administrative detention on non-criminal grounds (AI 2005, pp.25-26). Similarly, during its 2008 visit to Greece, the CPT noted that “detained irregular migrants continue to be provided with the same regime as criminal suspects; the drafting of minimum operating standards for special facilities for irregular migrants, as required by Article 81 of the Law 3386, is still ongoing” (CPT 2009).
Human rights groups and governmental bodies have also pointed to a lack of transparency with regards to Greek detention practices. Detainees reportedly are often not provided sufficient information regarding the process of appealing detention (Pro Asyl 2007, p.20; European Parliament 2007, p.93), and it is difficult to track conditions at centres because civil society groups are prevented from accessing them (European Parliament 2007, p.93).
Finally, the treatment of minors within the framework of immigration detention has been criticized by various international actors. UNHCR reports that refugee protection afforded to minors in Greece is arbitrary (AI 2009, p.156). Minors may also be detained for expulsion. While the Greek government claims that minors are always held in separate facilities, AI and Human Rights Watch (HRW) report that unaccompanied minors are at times held together with adults (Greek Ministry of Interior 2009, p. 72; AI 2005, p.31; HRW 2009).
Detention Infrastructure. Greece has two types of immigration detention facilities: police and border guard stations for short-term detention following apprehension, and detention centres, or “special centres for hosting foreigners” for foreign nationals awaiting deportation (Greek Ministry of Interior 2009; Law 3386, Arts. 76, 81). Additionally, there have been reports of foreign nationals being held temporarily at airport facilities and ad hoc sites located at the Academy of the Merchant Navy and hotels (Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants 2003; AI 2002). Prisons are used to confine irregular immigrants who have been prosecuted for criminal offences (European Parliament 2007).
Reports by the CPT, the Greek government, and various human rights organisations identify some 36 different sites in which immigrants have been detained since 2001, including specialised immigration detention centres, police and border guard stations and ad hoc facilities. The European Parliament noted in a 2007 study the lack of official listings enumerating all immigrant detention facilities currently in use (European Parliament 2007). The Global Detention Project has been able to verify that since 2008, at least 9 specialised immigration detention centres as well as one police/border guard station (Xanthi) have been used on a regular basis for detaining immigrants for periods lasting more than a few days (Greek Ministry of Interior 2009; CPT 2009; Kehayioylou 2009; HRW 2008b). The total detention capacity in specialised detention centres was 2,500 in 2007 (Pro Asyl 2007, 19). In addition to these detention facilities, in 2007 Greek authorities operated at least 10 non-secure reception centres for asylum seekers (European Parliament 2007, p.91).
While in theory irregular migrants are transferred from police or border guard stations to specialised detention facilities within a few days of apprehension, detention facilities are often operating at full capacity, resulting in many migrants being held in police or border guard stations for extended periods of time. The CPT noted during its 2008 visit that “many … persons, in particular irregular migrants, would remain locked up under such conditions [in facilities intended for short term detention] for months on end. The situation observed could in some cases, such as in Xanthi Police and Border Guard Station, amount to inhuman or degrading treatment” (CPT 2009).
The large numbers of immigrants apprehended in Greece means that not only are detainees held in police or border guard facilities for excessively long periods of time; conditions within the specialised centres suffer as well. During its 2008 visit, the CPT noted poor detention conditions and the “persistent failure by Greek authorities to tackle structural deficiencies in the establishments holding irregular immigrants” (CPT 2009).
Reports by human rights bodies have noted that Greece’s specialised detention facilities suffer from overcrowding, poor hygiene, deficiencies in access to healthcare, and lack of segregation of men, women, and children (CPT 2009; AI 2005; European Parliament 2007 p.93; Kehayioylou 2009; MSF 2008a & b; Pro Asyl 2007, p.23; HRW 2008). For instance, AI described conditions in the Pagani centre on the island of Lesvos in October 2008, thusly: “Detainees slept on floors, which were permanently flooded due to faulty plumbing, and were rarely allowed to exercise. The centre, built to hold 300, accommodated 830 detainees, including mothers with babies and at least one pregnant woman” (AI 2009, p.157). Furthermore, there have been multiple reports of physical abuse in the facilities, especially those run by border guards (who were characterised by the CPT in 2008 as “a paramilitary task force”) (CPT 2009; AI 2005; European Parliament 2007 p.93; Kehayioylou 2009; MSF 2008a & b; Pro Asyl 2007, p.23; HRW 2008). In October 2009, UNHCR demanded an inquiry into the alleged beating of several asylum seekers, including a 17-year old boy, after they had protested against the cramped and insanitary conditions of detention at the Pagani centre in Lesvos (Brabant 2009).
Many of the criticisms of Greek detention sites were highlighted in a 2009 judgement by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), in which a Turkish national challenged the legality of his detention in Greece under immigration laws. The ECHR found that the conditions of the applicant’s detention amounted to degrading treatment, citing the lack of facilities for outdoor exercise, the inability to establish contact with the outside world, the lack of medical attention, and an excessively long detention period of over two months given the poor conditions (S.D. c. Grèce 2009, §53-4).
Facts and figures. Irregular immigrants in Greece come from a number of countries, including Albania, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Iraq, Romania, Egypt, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Pakistan, and Georgia (Chindea et al. 2008, p.40). The country’s undocumented population in 2006 was estimated to be between 200,000 and 400,000 (Rapporteur on Migration, Refugees and Population 2007, p.12). As of December 2008, 38,061 asylum applications were pending (UNHCR 2009).
The number of irregular immigrants apprehended in Greece was reportedly very high at the turn of the century, peaking at 259,403 in 2000. The numbers then purportedly fell dramatically to 66,351 in 2005 (Chindea et al. 2008, p.37). However, apprehensions appear to be on the rise once more, as 146,337 immigrants were reportedly taken into custody in 2008 (Greek Ministry of Interior 2009). In 2005, the Greek government issued 40,649 expulsion decisions and removed 21,219 persons from the territory (Chindea et al. 2008, p.42).
The GDP has identified 9 specialised immigration detention centres in Greece according to information from 2008 and 2009 (Greek Ministry of Interior 2009; CPT 2009; Kehayioylou 2009; HRW 2008b). The total detention capacity in specialised detention centres was 2,500 in 2007 (Pro Asyl 2007, 19). The maximum length of detention was raised in June 2009 from three to six months and twelve months in exceptional cases (Itano 2009).
