34 FRONTIER EUROPE Human rights abuses on Greece’s border with Turkey Nationals on Greek Territory, published in the Greek Government Gazette in June 2005, Article 76(3). 35 Presidential Decree 116/2012 on the establishment of a single procedure for granting the status of refugee or of beneficiary of subsidiary protection to aliens or to stateless persons in conformity with Council Directive 2005/85/EC, published in the Greek Government Gazette on 19 October 2012. 36 On 17 April 2013, the Greek Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection announced that as of 9 April 2013 Syrians will only be held in detention for “a few days” for the Greek authorities to confirm their nationality and then be released, with return decisions suspended for six months. See UNHCR, Syria Press Conference: The humanitarian situation in the region is dramatic – UNHCR calls for the protection of Syrians who arrive in Greece, 17 April 2013, available at: http://www.unhcr.gr/nea/artikel/f77461475f3688323d5fc6f1f1a6ab4d/syria-pressconference-the-humanita.html. 37 The immigration detention capacity in the six largest immigration detention facilities in Greece (Xanthi, Komotini, Paranesti Dramas, Fylakio, Korinth and Amygdaleza) is reported to be 5,000 according to a news release on Fonitis Xanthis (local media outlet), The Ministry of Citizen Protection examines the expansion of the holding capacity of the existing detention centres for migrants, 10 April 2013, available at: http://fonitisxanthis.gr. This number does not include police stations, border guard stations or coastguard holding facilities. In a letter dated 13 May 2013 raising push-back allegations and Amnesty International’s concerns over the detention of migrants in Greece, Amnesty International asked the Greek government the total capacity of detention of irregular migrants in Greece. As of 19 June 2013, there has been no response to this information request. 38 UN General Assembly, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau: Addendum – Greece, 18 April 2013, Paragraph 45, available at: http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/23/46/Add.4 and PACE, Migration and asylum: mounting tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, 23 January 2013, available at: http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/XRef/X2H-DW-XSL.asp?fileid=19349&lang=en. 39 See for example, Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and Article 15 of the Returns Directive (The Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals). For a detailed discussion on alternatives to immigration detention, see, Amnesty International, Irregular Migrants and Asylum-Seekers: Alternatives to Immigration Detention (Index: POL 33/001/2009), 2009. 40 The Law 3907/2011 Article 30(1) applies to those who are apprehended for irregular stay in Greece, which obliges Greece to consider less coercive measures before detention. However, the Law 3386/2005, which applies to those apprehended for irregular crossing of Greek borders, does not provide for alternative measures to detention. Article 76(3) of the Law 3386/2005, states that if a third country national is considered “suspect for escape or dangerous for the public order or avoids or obstructs the preparation of his departure or the procedure of his expulsion” can be detained temporarily until a deportation order is issued. Amnesty International July 2013 Index: 25/008/2013