REVOLVING DOOR DETENTION Rejected asylum seekers and undocumented migrants who do not seek asylum are often trapped in a bureaucratic maze. Rather than initiate a fair deportation proceeding, including the right to an appeal before a court or tribunal, the Greek authorities’ usual practice is to detain migrants and, upon release from detention, issue a paper ordering them to leave the country within 30 days. This order, commonly known as the “white paper,” is written only in Greek, a language few of its recipients understand. TThe white paper seems to carry little weight as an enforcement document; individuals who fail to comply with the “deadline” are simply issued another white paper. If they are caught trying to leave Greece, though, since they lack travel documents, they are rearrested, detained, and issued another white paper ordering them to leave the country within 30 days. This happens repeatedly. Efthalia Pappa, program supervisor of the Ecumenical Program for Refugees, told Human Rights Watch, “The 30-day paper is a paradox: It tells the person to leave the country and then the police arrest that same person for trying to leave the country.” TIME FOR A CHANGE It appears the previous Greek government was determined to do everything it could to close the door on people seeking protection in Europe. It was indifferent to its violation of international and European human rights and refugee law and unmoved by the fate of those who are most vulnerable. The new government, which has gone on record acknowledging it wants to improve its human rights record with respect to migrants, it should urgently prioritize ending abuses, protecting migrant children, and reforming asylum practices. An unaccompanied Afghan child waits to board a ferry after being released from a detention center in Mitilini, Lesvos Island. HRW 18 HRW 19