Children seeking asylum trapped by the pandemic Mohammed* arrived in Greece as an unaccompanied minor in 2018. He was forced to flee his home country due to ethnic discrimination. After a year of waiting, the Greek authorities approved his request to be reunited with his family, who were living in another European country. His flight was scheduled for March 2020 but was cancelled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This left him stranded in Greece. During this time, Mohammed turned 18 and was forced to move out of the youth centre. He moved into an apartment, where, after an incident, he called the police fearing for his safety. Instead of helping him, the police placed him in administrative detention. He remained in detention until his application for asylum was assessed. This is despite the fact that Mohammed had already undergone all relevant legal processes, and his transfer to reunite with his family had been approved and was pending implementation by the Greek state. He was held in detention for eight months. The Greek Council for Refugees took up Mohammed’s case in July 2021. It was clear that there was no legal justification for his detention. It also became clear that it amounted to a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment) due to the dire living conditions in detention. His cell was dirty, humid, full of insects, and had insufficient light and ventilation. He lacked any type of access to recreational activities such as a book or television; he had very limited access to open air, as he was living in a highly substandard prison-like courtyard (cement walls and barbed wire); there were no clean sheets; and he was not given any personal hygiene products (such as soap). There was little food and the food that was provided was of poor quality. Mohammed also lacked any access to mental health support, despite experiencing feelings of isolation, despair, anxiety and humiliation that were intensified by his living conditions. During this time, Mohammed thought that he was waiting for the Covid-related measures to be lifted so that he could finally fly out of the country to be reunited with his family. Yet unknown to him, the deadline for doing so had already come and gone. It was a truly Kafkaesque situation: he was unable to be transferred on time because the Greek Dublin Unit could not find him while he was languishing in administrative detention. In July 2021, in total despair, Mohammed attempted suicide and was hospitalized. Despite suffering poor physical and mental health, he was then transferred directly from the hospital back to his cell. Following multiple interventions by a lawyer acting for the Greek Council for Refugees, a further attempt was made by the Dublin Unit to reunite him with his family. In mid-September 2021, Mohammed was escorted from his cell to the airport, after eight months of arbitrary detention that nearly cost him his life. After reaching his destination, he contacted the lawyer to let him know that he was finally with his family. *Testimonies provided with consent from interviewees and names changed to protect their anonymity. 13