48 IV. CONCLUSION practices raise, they show how Kos serves as a One year later, detention continues to be an policy, which threatens to expand the use of integral part of the harsh immigration policies detention at the EU’s external borders. Already, implemented on Kos. Although the Kos rights groups have sounded the alarm about authorities ended the detention of asylum similar practices on Samos,138 and the new seekers upon arrival, reduced the maximum PRDC inside the Leros CCAC is expected to detention period to six months, and stopped open soon, even as there are no permanent detaining women and families with young legal actors on the island to submit objections children, detained asylum seekers are still against detention. The expansion of detention subjected to deplorable conditions and practices on Kos is also taking place against the substandard legal safeguards. The authorities backdrop of an increasing number of asylum continue to automatically detain certain seekers arriving on the Eastern Aegean islands. groups of rejected asylum seekers, although Nearly 500 asylum seekers arrived on Kos in there is no reasonable prospect of return to December 2022 alone, and approximately 400 Türkiye, in addition to detaining alleged more in January 2023.139 By the end of January unaccompanied minors. People detained on 2023, UNHCR shared that there were 1,546 Kos continue to suffer from a lack of food and asylum seekers on the island while the water, access to recreational activities, Ministry of Migration and Asylum reported information regarding their reasons for that the CCAC was hosting 1,105 people.140 detention, adequate healthcare, and hygienic Comparatively, in January 2022 there were facilities and materials. These factors fewer than 100 arrivals on Kos and only 304 combined with the carceral environment in people accommodated in the CCAC by the end detention lead to alarming mental health of the month.141 concerns and an overall dire situation for As we have documented for two years now, asylum seekers that violate their fundamental the detention practices on Kos violate the rights. fundamental rights of migrants and Even while the number of people in the PRDC particularly their right to liberty. Although the went down this past year, the types of practices have changed significantly in that detention on Kos expanded. This update time, asylum seekers’ experiences on Kos introduced three new forms of detention on continue to be marked by detention. For most Kos: Covid-19 quarantine, the 25-day of the period covered by this update, asylum restriction of freedom, and the CCAC. Although seekers arriving on Kos were placed first in a we only touched on the legal issues these Covid-19 quarantine, then restricted for 25 See Amnesty International, Greece: Asylum seekers being illegally detained in new EU-funded camp (2 December 2021), available at: https://bit.ly/3XU9YEI. 139 As reported by UNHCR’s field office on Kos. 140 NCCBCIA, National Situational Picture Regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (25 January 2023), available at: https://bit.ly/3Jez5Oi. 141 138 blueprint for future Greek and EU migration Arrival numbers as reported by UNHCR’s field office on Kos. For statistics on the CCAC see NCCBCIA, National Situational Picture Regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (31 January 2022), available at: https://bit.ly/3xWU4hO. ‘Still detained and forgotten’ – Update on Detention Policies, Practices, and Conditions on Kos 2022/23