Author
National legislation provides a number of guarantees with regard to the detention of vulnerable persons, without prohibiting it. According to Article 52 Asylum Code, women should be detained separately from men,[1] the privacy of families in detention should be duly respected,[2] and the detention of minors should be a last resort measure and be carried out separately from adults.[3]
More generally, Greek authorities have the positive obligation to provide special care to applicants belonging to vulnerable groups (see Special Reception Needs). However, in practice, persons belonging to vulnerable groups are detained without a proper identification of vulnerability and individualised assessment prior to the issuance of a detention order.
In 2023, GCR has supported various cases of vulnerable persons in detention whose vulnerability had not been taken into account. These include:
- A single woman from Pakistan suffering from mental disorder who was detained in PRDC of Amygdaleza for almost three months.
- A rejected asylum seeker from Democratic Republic of Congo, suffering from PTSD, who was detained in PRDC of Amygdaleza for almost three months.
- A woman asylum seeker originating from Ghana, victim of domestic and sexual violence, who was detained in PRDC of Amygdaleza for a period of six months.
Detention of unaccompanied children
Following criticism by international bodies and civil society actors as well as several decisions of the ECtHR,[4] L. 4760/2020 entered into force on 11 December 2020, and abolished the possibility to detain unaccompanied children under the pretext of ‘protective custody’.[5] Other legal provisions that allow the detention of unaccompanied children are still in force.[6]
Since the start of the implementation of the new legislation, unaccompanied children as a rule do not remain in administrative detention and they are transferred to reception facilities. However, even in 2023, a small number of unaccompanied children, according to official statistics, has been detained, albeit for very short periods. At the end of 2023, 14 unaccompanied children were detained, in most cases for very short periods. In total, 508 unaccompanied children were kept in PRDCs countrywide during 2023.[7]
Detention following wrong age assessment
On 13 August 2020 the Joint Ministerial Decision 9889/2020 entered into force.[8] It sets out a common age assessment procedure both in the context of reception and identification procedures and the asylum procedure. However, the scope of the JMD 9889/2020 does not apply to age assessments of unaccompanied children under the responsibility of the Hellenic Police, i.e., minor children arrested by the police. In practice, children under the responsibility of police authorities are as a rule deprived of any age assessment guarantees set out in the relevant Ministerial Decision, and systematically undergo medical examinations consisting of left-hand X-ray, panoramic dental X-ray and dental examination in case their age is disputed. In addition to the limited reliability and highly invasive nature of the method used, it should be noted that no remedy exists to challenge the outcome of that procedure.
A number of cases of unaccompanied children detained as adults were identified by GCR during 2023. For example, in a case supported by GCR in 2023 an unaccompanied minor who had wrongfully been registered by the police as an adult remained for more than 2 ½ months in a Police Station and in a PRDC, before being identified as a minor on the basis of the age assessment procedure followed and transferred to a shelter for unaccompanied minors. It should also be noted that those who have been registered as adults remain detained until the fulfilment of the age assessment procedure without any consideration of the presumption of minority and benefit of the doubt that must accompany the age assessment procedure.[9] The same occurs in cases of individuals who have been sufficiently identified as minors during the first stage of the assesmsnet procedure, yet for whom the stages of the procedure are exhausted, resulting in their ongoing detention until the medical examinations have been carried out.
Detention of families
Despite the constant case law of the ECtHR with regard to the detention of families in the context of migration control,[10] families with children are in practice detained. Among others, GCR has supported cases throughout 2023 of families, including single-parent families, families with minor children or families where one member remained detained. For instance, GCR has supported cases in which families had remained in detention for periods exceeding one month following a shipwreck before they were transferred to open accommodation facilities.
[1] Article 52 (4) Asylum Code.
[2] Article 52 (3) Asylum Code.
[3] Article 52 (2) Asylum Code.
[4] See, e.g., ECtHR, Rahimi vs Greece, Application No. 8687/08, 5 July 2011, available at: https://bit.ly/3WaODZX.
[5] Gov. Gazette A’ 247/11-12-2020, L. 4760/2020.
[6] Article 52(2) Asylum Code, article 118 of the Presidential Decree 141/1991 regarding ‘protective custody’ of unaccompanied minors, L.3907/2011.
[7] Information provided by the Directorate of the Hellenic Police, 18 January 2024.
[8] Joint Ministerial Decision 9889/2020, Gov. Gazette 3390/Β/13-8-2020, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3Uz94hZ.
[9] See inter alia EASO, EASO Practical Guide on age assessment, 2018, available at: https://bit.ly/3Sv8yPP; ECtHR, Darboe and Camara v. Italy, Application No. 5797/17, 21 July 2022; UN CRC, N.B.F. v. Spain, CRC/C/79/D/11/2017.
[10] See e.g., ECtHR, Mahmundi and Others v. Greece, Application No 14902/10, Judgment of 31 July 2012, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/436t650.