50 GREECE IRREGULAR MIGRANTS AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS ROUTINELY DETAINED IN SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS ENDNOTES 1 The number of foreign nationals arrested by the Greek police and coastguard authorities for irregular entry and stay in the country increased from 95,239 in 2006 to 126,145 in 2009 (see Aliens’ Directorate Statistics for 2006-2009, at http://www.yptp.gr). The vast majority of asylum-seekers arrive at the Greek-Turkish land and sea borders. According to official government statistics, in 2009 a total of 78,329 foreign nationals were arrested at the country’s points of entry for irregular entry and stay. Among them 8,787 were arrested at the Greek-Turkish land borders, 9,572 on the Dodecanese islands, 8,467 on Samos, 8,422 on Lesvos and 1,212 on Chios. In the first five months of 2010, a total of 28,079 foreign nationals were arrested for irregular entry and stay at the country’s points of entry (among them 9,392 were arrested at the Greek-Turkish land borders, 1,075 on the Dodecanese islands, 1,116 on Samos, 1,003 on Lesvos and 102 on Chios). The main nationalities arrested on the Greek-Turkish land and sea borders are Afghan, Somali, Palestinian, Iraqi, Eritrean, Pakistani and Burmese. No separate statistics are kept for the number of unaccompanied minors arrested for irregular entry, or the number of unaccompanied minors who are issued with administrative deportation orders (based on reply of 7 June 2010 by Aliens’ Police Directorate, Department for Migration and Administrative Measures to Amnesty International’s request for information on 30 April 2010; based on reply of 24 June 2010 by Aliens’ Police Directorate, Department for Migration and Administrative Measures to Amnesty International’s request for information on 7 June 2010). Official statistics for the first four months of 2010 show a significant reduction of irregular arrivals on the Greek-Turkish sea borders but a significant increase on the Greek-Turkish land borders in comparison with the same period in 2009 (at http://www.astynomia.gr/images/stories/2010/09.06.2010_gadp_lathrometanaston_me_yen_4mino_201 0.xls). 2 In 2009, 30,371 asylum applications were examined (29,501 at the first instance and 870 at the second instance). Only, 36 asylum-seekers were granted refugee status protection. Over the same period, 128 asylum-seekers were granted subsidiary protection and humanitarian status, including those whose status was renewed. The refugee, humanitarian status and subsidiary protection recognition rates at the first instance were respectively 0.04 per cent, 0.09 per cent and 0.31 per cent (see http://www.astynomia.gr/index.php?option=ozo_content&perform=view&id=81&Itemid=73&lang=). 3 See Amnesty International, Greece: Out of the spotlight – The rights of migrants and minorities are still a grey area, October 2005 (AI Index: EUR 25/016/2005). 4 See, among others, Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights, CommDH (2010) 13, Strasbourg, 8 March 2010; UNHCR, Observations on Greece as a country of asylum, December 2009; Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), Report to the Government of Greece, June 2009 CPT/Inf (2009) 20; Human Rights Watch, Unsafe and Unwelcoming Shores, 12 October 2009, at http://www.hrw.org/en/node/86025; Report of the Hellenic League of Human Rights (HLHR) on the detention of immigrants without legal documents in Rodopi and Evros, Thessaloniki, 3 January 2010; Report by lawyers Marianna Tzeferakou and Natasha Strahini following their visit to detention areas for irregular migrants and asylum-seekers in the Evros region, September 2009 (unpublished); National Commission for Human Rights, Detention Conditions in Police Stations and Detention Areas of Aliens, April 2010, at http://www.nchr.gr; Médecins Sans Frontières, Migrants in Detention – Lives on hold, Greece, June 2010, at http://www.msf.gr; Jesuit Refugee Service – Europe, Becoming Vulnerable in Detention, Civil Society Report on the Detention of Vulnerable Asylum-Seekers and Irregular Migrants in the European Union (The Devas Project), June 2010; National Report: Greece, Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), pp 209-221. 5 See also, Migration-Related Detention: A research guide on human rights standards relevant to the detention of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, 1 November 2007 (AI Index: POL 33/005/2007); Irregular Migrants and Asylum-Seekers: Alternatives to Immigration Detention (AI Index: POL 33/001/2009). Amnesty International July 2010 Index: EUR 25/002/2010