Thousands prosecuted, over 300 behind bars in prisons and detention centres

More than 3,500 people were criminally prosecuted in Greece for “illegal” entry, exit and stay offences in the first half of 2026 according to the latest official statistics.

Risks of unfair penalisation of refugees have been exacerbated by the absence of means of access to the asylum process in mainland Greece following the entry into application of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.

Recent cases handled by RSA are indicative. In early July, a single mother with two children from Syria appeared before the Reception and Identification Centre (RIC) of Malakasa to seek protection, showing proof of her unsuccessful attempt to book a registration appointment via the online platform of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, no longer in operation. The RIC denied them entry and called the Police, resulting in the family being arrested, detained in squalid conditions in a police station and brought before the Public Prosecutor to be tried for illegal stay. Only upon our complaint to the RIS and to the Ombudsman and our appeal against their return decision was the family transferred by the Police to RIC Malakasa.

In early September, three single-parent families from Syria and Afghanistan who appeared with their children at the entrance of RIC Malakasa to seek asylum were arrested after the RIS called the Police, brought to a police station and separated from their children, who were taken under custody in a public hospital. The three mothers were brought to the Single-Member Criminal Court of Athens on the next day and the day after to be tried for illegal stay in summary proceedings. RSA represented the women before the Court, which postponed the hearing of the cases and ordered that the women be reunited with their children and brought to RIC Malakasa to have their asylum claims registered.

In two further cases represented by RSA, in late September, two women from Afghanistan who appeared at RIC Malakasa to seek asylum were arrested and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for “illegal stay”. One of them had fled Afghanistan together with her daughter and grandchildren, who were at risk under Taliban rule. The family had been forcibly separated during the journey and, after the arrest, she was also separated from the two grandchildren who were with her, without knowing their fate. She was taken to prison, until her request to suspend the execution of her sentence was later granted. The other had fled conditions of protracted domestic violence together with her teenage daughter. Her sentence was suspended on condition that she return to Afghanistan immediately.

Of the 1,181 decisions for which data was provided, the vast majority (1,037) resulted in conviction. Out of 1,037 convictions handed down, 535 concern illegal entry and 366 illegal stay. The number is estimated to be significantly higher in reality, since the statistics do not include the Court of First Instance of Athens. 462 of the convictions were delivered in summary proceedings, within an extremely short time from arrest. Appeals were lodged in only 392 of the 1,037 cases, while in 607 cases the sentence was suspended upon expression of intent to immediately depart from the country (the sole ground for suspension under the law). Even then, however, they remain detained in prisons or in pre-removal detention centres (PRDC) until they leave the country.

At the end of June 2026, 311 people were detained following a conviction for the above offences: 201 served an imprisonment sentence in prisons and 110 were administratively detained in PRDC. The two main nationalities of detainees are Egypt and Pakistan, while the main countries of origin still include Afghanistan, whose nationals obtain asylum in Greece at a rate exceeding 96%, according to the latest figures of the Asylum Service for the first half of 2026.

Detailed statistics and graphs are available in the note below.