Deportation and immigration detention statistics in Greece in the first half of 2026

This emerges from the analysis of official statistics on return and deportation proceedings and on immigration detention in the first half of 2026, which were supplied by the Greek authorities in response to parliamentary questions and which we publish today.

This analysis builds on RSA’s regular documentation, which has consistently highlighted the constant, arbitrary practice of imposing deprivation of liberty and deportation (see for 2025).

The Hellenic Police issued a total of 7,809 decisions ordering removal from the Greek territory in the first half of 2026. Of those, 5,063 were return decisions and 2,746 were deportation orders. Greece carried out 3,213 returns and deportations. More than half of them concern nationals of Albania (1,038) and Georgia (606), not represented in arrivals via Evros and the Mediterranean.

The Hellenic Police issued 7,270 detention orders in the first half of 2026, while the RIS issued 17,169 “freedom restriction” orders.

This year too, the Police used immigration detention systematically and not as a last resort, as required by international, EU and domestic law.

The obstacles to the accessibility of the administrative appeal against return and deportation decisions, coupled with the complete absence of free legal assistance to date, adversely affect the effectiveness of access to the objections remedy as well: only 3.3% of return and deportation decisions were appealed, of which the Hellenic Police granted just 3.9%, while less than one in four Police detention orders were challenged before the courts. The administrative courts granted 41.8% of objections against detention processed on the merits, but found a mere 0.5% of the orders they reviewed ex officio to be unlawful, even though they relate to the very same provisions, once again highlighting the sharp disparities between the two procedures.

Based on the above, we highlight yet again the pressing need for the State to comply with its obligation to provide free legal assistance to people subject to immigration detention.

At the end of the first half of 2026, of the 2,839 people held in immigration detention, 2,482 were detained in the six Pre-Removal Detention Centres (PRDC) on the mainland and in the Special Detention Facility in Sintiki, while 357 were held in police stations throughout the country, up from 204 at the end of 2025. These figures point to a significant increase in the population in PRDC and police stations compared to the end of 2025. We note that immigration detention in police stations under grossly substandard conditions still amounts to degrading treatment condemned by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The main country of origin of people in detention was Egypt (906), followed by Pakistan (415).

At the end of June 2026, only 7 doctors and 6 psychologists of Health Units SA (AEMY) were deployed in the six mainland PRDC. In Amygdaleza, where 704 people were detained, 2 doctors were deployed, while in Corinth, with 385 detainees, there was no doctor or psychologist. Only 8 AEMY interpreters (for all languages) were also deployed across the six PRDC, while Frontex provided a further roving roster of 9 interpreters in PRDC Amygdaleza, Tavros and Corinth.