GREECE IRREGULAR MIGRANTS AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS ROUTINELY DETAINED IN SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS 31 February 2008 extended it to unaccompanied children who have not applied for asylum. In addition, Article 19 (2) of PD 220/2007 stipulates that the authorities shall ensure immediately that the accommodation needs for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are covered by placing them with a foster family, adult relatives or an accommodation centre that has special provision for minors.105 According to a 2008 study commissioned by UNHCR, some public prosecutors acting as temporary guardians have interpreted their role as limited solely to the appointment of permanent guardians, claiming that it was impossible to exercise their duties effectively because of their workload.106 Such limited interpretation of the legal guardian’s mandate can lead to unaccompanied minors being unable to exercise their legal rights such as challenging the deportation and detention orders issued against them.107 The following example illustrates how difficulties in appointing permanent guardians and a lack of available spaces in special reception centres contributes to the prolonged detention of unaccompanied children. Amnesty International delegates who visited the immigration detention centre in Vathi on the island of Samos in June 2009 found that the unaccompanied children in the centre had been detained for between two to three months. According to reports many of the unaccompanied children were in poor psychological health as a result of their prolonged period of detention, and some had shown suicidal tendencies. The long time that these children were kept in the centre was a result of two factors. In the first place, before being released from detention, they had to wait for a place to be found at a special reception centre for unaccompanied children.108 Secondly, it was difficult for the prosecutors to appoint a permanent guardian who would also be responsible for the transfer of the children to special reception centres. A local social workers’ representative informed Amnesty International that, since April 2009 social workers of the island had protested against their appointment as permanent legal guardians of the unaccompanied children on the grounds that this was not part of their job description. Their concerns were also increased by security risks posed by a lack of transport organized by the authorities during a previous transfer. Another concern was that responsibility for the unaccompanied children remains with the appointed permanent guardian, even after the children have been transferred to special accommodation. 109 In an interview with the local prosecutor, the delegates were told that the local authorities were trying to find a way of allowing the children to be transferred to centres in other parts of Greece, such as by appointing as permanent guardians the directors of the special centres to which the young people would be sent.110 However, until a solution was found the children could not leave the centre, since the prosecutor believed the immigration detention centre was the only place where the unaccompanied children could be kept safe until a way could be found to transfer them. Both the local prosecutor and the social workers’ representative pointed out that Article 49 of Law 2447/1996 providing for the establishment of a Judicial Social Service under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice has not been implemented. The establishment of such an authority, according to the local prosecutors, would solve the problem because specialist staff under the supervision of the service could be appointed as permanent guardians for unaccompanied children and allow them to be housed.111 In October 2009, Amnesty International was informed that at least 15-20 unaccompanied children were Index: EUR 25/002/2010 Amnesty International July 2010