Greek Court rules detention of unregistered refugees in RIC Malakasa unlawful
The Administrative Court of Athens held that a family of refugees had unlawfully been detained under a “restriction of freedom” in the Reception and Identification Centre (RIC) of Malakasa, Attica, while awaiting their registration for more than two weeks.
On 14 November 2024, the Court accepted the objections of the three-member family with a minor child against their de facto detention in Malakasa. Detention had been ordered by a 20-day extension of their “freedom restriction” inside the camp since the Reception and Identification Service (RIS) had not completed their registration. The Court found that delays owed to the authorities do not justify the continuation of detention and ordered the RIC Malakasa to transfer the family to an open facility until the exact date it shall set for their registration. The family was registered on the day following the delivery of the court ruling.
On 7 November, we visited RIC Malakasa to provide legal assistance to the family and to other Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) clients who remain under “restriction on freedom” in anticipation of their screening and registration by the RIS. We were subjected to unjustified prolonged waiting times and were required to file an “entry request” to be allowed entry in the RIC, even though lawyers may enter such facilities upon the sole condition of showing their professional ID, and an email notification of our visit had been sent two days prior. We also found out that the authorities refuse to certify the signature of detained people and to respond to such requests in writing.
As a result, unregistered people detained in Malakasa cannot sign the necessary authorisations to be represented by a lawyer, with a view to claiming basic rights such as judicial control of their detention, dignified living conditions, medical care, lodging of an asylum application. Some of them have remained there unregistered since the end of September, whereas the law provides that the screening process must in principle be completed in five days.
Repeated written and oral requests from unregistered persons for the certification of their signature by the RIS remain unanswered to date. This stance has been deemed unjustified by the court ruling in question. The asylum seekers have referred to the Greek Ombudsman regarding the matter.
Finally, the Court highlighted problematic living conditions facing people inside RIC Malakasa. RSA clients reportedly live in containers mired with serious and dangerous damage, water leaks, insects and rodents. They have not received cleaning and hygiene kits such as soap, detergent or linen, and have not been examined by a doctor, psychologist or social worker with a view to identification of needs, even for survivors of torture, minor children and people suffering from serious illnesses.
