II. FACTS FOUND DURING THE VISIT AND ACTION PROPOSED A. Foreign nationals deprived of their liberty under immigration legislation 1. Preliminary remarks 16. The CPT has long advocated that immigration detention, in line with its administrative nature, must neither be punitive nor arbitrary but a measure of last resort, imposed after careful and individual examination of each case, consideration of available alternatives to detention, and for the shortest time possible. All foreign nationals entering the country must be registered, undergo health screening and vulnerability assessment, and be offered the opportunity to apply for asylum. Families with children, unaccompanied and separated children, and other persons in a vulnerable situation should not be detained but offered suitable accommodation and support. Where it is deemed necessary to detain persons with a view to their removal, they should be held in facilities that offer both decent conditions and a basic regime. Further, the personnel employed to care for these detained foreign nationals should be adequately trained and include persons who speak the languages of those detained. The Committee has also repeatedly held that police and border guard stations, as well as special holding facilities are totally inappropriate for holding foreign nationals for periods exceeding 24 hours. 17. The CPT continues to acknowledge that the challenges in dealing with the arrival of relatively high numbers of foreign nationals cannot be underestimated. In this respect, it has always stressed that addressing this phenomenon requires a coordinated pan-European and multi-stakeholder approach which includes support by the EU and its member states. Nonetheless, the Committee has repeatedly reiterated that Greece must ensure that all foreign nationals who are deprived of their liberty are treated with dignity and held in humane and safe conditions. This requires having in place an immigration detention policy which only detains persons who have had their requests for asylum rejected and who the state is able to remove safely back to their country of origin or a third country if no other alternative options are available. 18. The findings of the 2023 ad hoc visit once again indicate that, despite some positive developments, the Greek authorities have not taken sufficient steps to address the serious structural deficiencies raised by the CPT in its previous visits. The policy of the current Government must also be seen against the background of the determination of the EU and its member states to seal the external borders. In Greece, this has resulted in the establishment of closed reception and identification centres where foreign nationals arriving in the country are held while their claims for asylum are assessed under accelerated border procedures. The recent political agreement on the so-called new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum reflects this approach.4 19. Concerted action is required to change this situation radically. To begin with, there must be a shift in approach towards persons on the move, recognising that the act of migration is not, in itself, a criminal offence. Consequently, they should not be held in prison-like conditions, such as those found in most pre-removal detention centres. The push factors for foreign nationals to undertake hazardous journeys to Europe are far greater than any dissuasive effect harsh detention conditions might have on their decision-making. To avoid subjecting foreign nationals to poor living conditions and regimes, and exposing them to inhuman and degrading treatment, Greece’s immigration detention facilities should be upgraded and persons provided with greater support. 4. On 20 December 2023, the European Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement on the Pact on Migration and Asylum. The package to reform the common system for managing migration and asylum in the EU, inter alia foresees the compulsory pre-entry screening of new arrivals at the external borders, the mandatory use of border procedures for specific categories of persons – including for unaccompanied children and children below the age of 12 and their families, who pose a security risk – and without granting any official access to EU territory, the creation of closed reception and identification centres at the borders and the swifter removal of rejected asylum seekers. Importantly, the new measures envisage the increased use of deprivation of liberty at the EU’s external borders. In addition, the new provisions would allow for member states to derogate from existing EU standards on asylum procedures, reception conditions and return in situations of crisis, “force majeure” or the vaguely defined concept of “instrumentalisation”. The different legal texts are still to be formally adopted by the European Parliament. 9