II. Arbitrary and Prolonged Detention “The situation is very bad…I feel alone here, far from my family, from my friends…I need to get out of this hell.” -Javed S., a 16-year-old Afghan boy in police custody for 52 days, Filiates Police Station, Filiates, July 1, 2016 Greek law allows unaccompanied children to be detained in exceptional cases and as a last resort for up to 25 days pending transfer to a dedicated reception facility, and for a further 20 days, that is up to a maximum of 45 days, if the child cannot be transferred due to exceptional circumstances.15 These maximums are already excessive, and the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch had been detained for an average of 40 days. We interviewed 19 children who had been detained in excess of 25 days, including 9 children who had been detained in excess of 45 days. According to the Hellenic Police, 161 unaccompanied children had been detained in protective custody by police while awaiting transfer to a shelter in the first six months of 2016.16 Hundreds more were detained by Greek authorities in closed facilities on the islands run by the First Reception Service under the Migration Ministry. The Hellenic Police did not respond to our request for specific data on how many of these children had been detained in police custody in excess of 25 days and in excess of 45 days since the law went into effect in April 2016.17 According to the deputy district attorney in Kilkis, a small town near Greece’s northern border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as of August 9, an estimated 77 unaccompanied children had been detained in police custody in 2016 just in Kilkis.18 15 Law on the organization and operation of the Asylum Service, the Appeals Authority, the Reception and Identification Service, the establishment of the General Secretariat for Reception, the transposition into Greek legislation of the provisions of Directive 2013/32/EC, No. 4375 of 2016, http://www.refworld.org/docid/573ad4cb4.html (accessed July 29, 2016) art. 46(10)(b) (Law on Reception). Prior to the law’s enactment, in April 2016, there were no set time limits on detention of children in protective custody. 16 Email from Eleftherios Lemonis, police lieutenant, Illegal Migration Control Division, Hellenic Police, to Human Rights Watch, August 24, 2016. 17 Human Rights Watch sent a letter with a series of questions to the Hellenic Police on July 26, 2016. We received a reply dated August 9, 2016, which did not, however, include this requested data. 18 Letter from Xenophon Kitsas, deputy district attorney of Kilkis, to Human Rights Watch, August 9, 2016. “WHY ARE YOU KEEPING ME HERE?” 12