Suspension of Asylum in Greece
Detention, Uncertainty, and Rights Violations
From 14 July to 14 October 2025, Greece suspended access to asylum for all refugees arriving in the country via North Africa. Around 2,000 people were in detention without prospects or protection. Following the expiry of the rule, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) documents the conditions in detention centres, procedural gaps, and the arbitrary implementation of the measure.
Unlawful suspension of access to asylum
From 14/07/2025 to 14/10/2025, Greece suspended access to asylum for all refugees entering the country through North Africa, a measure that in practice affected arrivals on Crete and Gavdos. This provision, imposed through an amendment to a bill of the Ministry of Development and included in Article 79 of Law 5218/2025 (Official Gazette 125/A/14-7-2025), constitutes a flagrant violation of fundamental principles of national, European and international law. As noted by national and international institutions, this suspension undermines the right to asylum, the principle of non-refoulement, and the state’s obligations to protect individuals from arbitrary detention.
During the three months of implementation of the suspension, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued two interim measures decisions (14/08/2025, 29/08/2025) prohibiting deportation of individuals who had been denied access to the asylum procedure. Despite these repeated “warning signals”, the practice persisted and resulted in prolonged and unjustified detention of around 2,000 people under conditions that violate human dignity.
Following the expiry of the suspension, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) assesses its effects based on the cases of individuals we represented and the findings of our lawyers’ field visits. From the outset of and throughout the duration of the suspension, RSA has represented a total of 33 individuals from Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Yemen and Egypt who arrived in Crete and Gavdos from Libya during the summer, were banned from claiming asylum and were placed in detention at the Pre-Removal Detention Centre (PRDC) of Amygdaleza and the Special Detention Facility (SDF) of Sintiki. The findings reveal serious violations of fundamental rights, including arbitrary detention, lack of access to asylum and legal assistance, and the absence of effective safeguards.
Blanket immigration detention: Conditions and reality
Throughout the asylum suspension, everyone arriving in Greece was automatically placed under administrative detention without the possibility to apply for asylum and without information on their rights. Most were transferred to closed facilities in Amygdaleza and Sintiki, where living conditions were and remain extremely harsh.
All three people we represent in Sintiki remain in the camp to this day, though individuals from South Sudan and Yemen have been registered and issued asylum seeker cards. As for Amygdaleza, nationals of Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea were transferred to the Reception and Identification Centres (RIC) of Malakasa and/or Diavata; Yemeni nationals were released without being placed in reception facilities; Egyptian nationals continue to be held in Amygdaleza; and two minors were transferred to a shelter for unaccompanied children.
“There were a few hundred people in the detention centre, but only a handful of toilets and two bathrooms. Inside one container, there were sometimes 15 people, sometimes 8 or 9. Many people developed skin problems because we had no soap or clean clothes. We wore the same clothes we had from Libya. I had only a black jacket, and my trousers were the same ones I wore when I left Libya. I still had the open shoes I came with. During the first months, I slept on the ground, in a container with six people. In the room where I am staying now, there are ten people, and still there is no hot water.”
Sawar*,
detainee affected by the three-month asylum suspension in Greece
In Sintiki, a Special Detention Facility was established within the Controlled Temporary Reception Centre (CTRC) operated by the Reception and Identification Service (RIS) and conceded to the Hellenic Police. During the suspension period, this space consistently held more than 900 people, although the official capacity of the facility as of 30/06/2025 did not exceed 733 places.
Detainees were crammed into containers, up to fifteen people per unit, in conditions of extreme overcrowding. Many lacked beds or mattresses and were forced to sleep on the floor. The containers showed severe deficiencies in hygiene and maintenance, with reports of cockroaches, insects and even snakes, confirmed by photo and video evidence. Most detainees had never received clothing or basic hygiene items and often remained in the same clothes they had worn during their journey from Libya.
Access to medical care was minimal. There was no permanent doctor inside the SDF, nor interpretation services. People requesting medical examination were handcuffed and transferred to the medical unit of the CTRC in Sintiki. These conditions have been corroborated by the Union of Police Officers of Serres. RSA and Refugee Legal Support (RLS) have submitted a complaint to the Greek Ombudsman concerning the detention conditions of two of our clients and seven other individuals.
In Amygdaleza, up to fourteen people initially shared containers designed for eight beds, forcing six of them to sleep on the floor on makeshift, hand-crafted mattresses. Later, four to six people were accommodated per container. Many containers had no electricity or air conditioning during heatwaves, while others had no functioning bathroom altogether.
Most people did not receive clothing or underwear and remained in the same clothes they had travelled in. Our clients consistently reported that they were not provided with blankets or sheets and often had to cover themselves with plastic garbage bags to protect themselves against cold and humidity. Blankets were distributed only on 15/10/2025. Personal hygiene items were given to people only once or twice during their detention. People only had access to water of dubious quality from an outdoor tap in the courtyard. As we were recently informed, the authorities transferred detainees to a new wing in October, where around twenty people were forced to stay per container.
The conditions in Amygdaleza have also been documented by the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) on 30/07/2025 and the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) on 31/10/2025.
Obstructed, arbitrary procedures
“There was no interpreter in detention. The officers just gave us papers to sign and said, ‘If you want to translate, do it yourself.’ I never saw an interpreter, except once for Arabic. We had to struggle to communicate and understand everything by ourselves.”
The procedures followed were marred by a lack of clarity and consistency. In many cases, detainees were asked to sign documents without knowing their contents, as no interpretation was provided. In Sintiki, there was no interpretation assistance at all, and notification forms were drafted and signed in Greek. In Amygdaleza, we were informed that Frontex interpreters provided assistance to the Hellenic Police and were physically present inside the detention facility. RSA submitted a request for information to Frontex on 27/08/2025 seeking clarification on their involvement. The request remains unanswered to date. Nevertheless, return decisions to all of our clients were fictitiously notified. Notification forms made available to us bore the same “date of notification” (31/07/2025) and an identical remark “refused” in the field corresponding to the detainee’s signature. The detainees reported to us that any documents handed to them were given without interpretation. Whenever interpretation was needed, it was provided informally by fellow detainees who spoke some English.
We underline that none of the individuals detained under the asylum suspension received free legal assistance from the state to appeal the deportation decisions issued against them. The critical lack of legal aid, which the authorities are obliged to offer, was also highlighted by the Plenary of Greek Bar Associations.
Appeal procedures against deportation decisions were handled through variant practices between the two facilities. In Sintiki, appeals submitted ‘late’ , i.e. after the five-day deadline foreseen by law, were deemed admissible and were examined on their merits (albeit ultimately rejected). In contrast, in Amygdaleza, appeals deemed late were dismissed without an examination on substance.
Serious administrative shortcomings were also observed in the treatment of lawyers. The SDF in Sintiki stated that it did not have a dedicated email address, while the Aliens Department of the Serres Police Directorate to which lawyers were referred did not maintain electronic files of the population in detention. As a result, administrative requests were processed with significant delay. In cases where RSA requested access to clients’ files, documents had to be retrieved directly from the detainees themselves to be copied and sent to us.
Regime of “exceptions” to the right to asylum
The asylum suspension was implemented in a manner that created confusion and insecurity. During the three-month period, people were unable to register their asylum claims, even in the cases where they had personally submitted written applications or administrative appeals to the police authorities and/or the Asylum Service.
The authorities exempted only a few categories from the measure, and even then did so without any clear or publicly available criteria. According to unpublished, ‘confidential’ circulars issued by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, certain vulnerable groups were exempted from mid-July onwards, while nationals of Sudan and Eritrea were exempted from mid-September, following the ECtHR interim measures decisions. These circulars have neither been published nor shared with those deprived of access to asylum, even after a formal RSA request for disclosure on behalf of our clients. The absence of a transparent and clear framework led to inconsistent practices and arbitrary decision-making. Individuals in the same situation and detained in the same facilities were treated in an arbitrary manner and experienced completely different treatment by the authorities.
Those exempted under the above-mentioned circulars were referred to the Reception and Identification Centres (RIC) of the RIS for screening, though no clear or transparent procedures were followed. Sudanese and Eritrean nationals were transferred from PRDC Amygdaleza to RIC Malakasa with administrative notes stating that they intended to leave the country within 30 days. In Malakasa, they were placed under deprivation of liberty pending screening which appears to have exceeded the 25-day deadline laid down in law. Some were later transferred again to RIC Diavata in northern Greece to continue their registration process.
When the asylum suspension ended on 14/10/2025, the situation remained unclear and varied. The Police collected written “declarations of intent” to seek asylum from all detainees, even from those who had already submitted asylum applications in person, while treatment varied significantly depending on nationality and place of detention.
Yemeni nationals held in Amygdaleza were registered as asylum seekers and subsequently released with an administrative note ordering them to report to the Asylum Service within seven days. They were not referred to any reception facility and received no information or assistance regarding where to stay or how to get there, forcing them to walk for hours without any money. When they appeared a few days later at the Asylum Service, they were denied entry and were not issued asylum seeker cards. Instead, they were instructed to submit a request via email to be given a new appointment (!). They have eventually received asylum seeker cards but remain without reception conditions, including accommodation.
Egyptian nationals in Amygdaleza continue to remain in detention. Their interviews were conducted at an accelerated pace inside the PRDC, only a few days after the end of the suspension. Conditions of detention in Amygdaleza remain unacceptable, as described above.
In Sintiki, the practice followed was also discriminatory based on nationality. Egyptian nationals underwent screening within the same facility, receiving “restriction of freedom” decisions and subsequently administrative detention orders, which at least some are serving in the very same location where they had already been detained. For Yemeni and South Sudanese nationals, confusion prevailed: upon contact with RSA, the Police and the Asylum Service declared themselves non-competent and each referred us to the other. This resulted in prolonged detention despite assurances that people would be transferred to the “open” wing of the camp to undergo screening. These individuals completed the screening process one week later and remain in the CTRC of Sintiki to this day.
Overall, the end of the suspension did not restore normality. On the contrary, many people were left without reception conditions, shelter, information, or effective access to the asylum procedure, while others continued to be detained without a clear legal basis.
Human dignity on hold
“Now, I feel much better. I have started to see hope and a future again. During detention, I felt hopeless, and at one point, I even thought about taking my own life because I felt that life had no meaning. But now I feel different. Life is still not easy, but at least now I have hope. Everyone here has their own problems. What we need most are clothes, warmth, and the opportunity to work. This is a new place for us, and we want to start a new life. I am here in Greece to continue my studies, to build a future for myself, and to contribute to society.“
The suspension of asylum was not merely an administrative decision. It established a state of exception that deprived approximately 2,000 people of their most fundamental right: the right to seek protection. The experience of these three months demonstrates the nefarious consequences of treating asylum as an “optional” right and detention as a “preventive” measure. This measure will produce longstanding effects both for those caught under it and for the rule of law.
The European Commission must still intervene. RSA and other civil society organisations have lodged a formal complaint to the Commission on 11/09/2025.
RSA calls on the Greek authorities to ensure that such measures are never repeated, that immigration detention is not applied in a blanket, preventive, and arbitrary manner, to restore access to the asylum procedure and to guarantee dignified conditions for all people seeking protection.
RSA also urges the European Commission to take timely and appropriate legal action to safeguard access to asylum and to ensure compliance with EU law in Greece.
Because the right to asylum and human dignity must never be suspended.
* The name has been changed to protect safety and privacy.