Detention of Asylum Seekers A. General Indicators: - Number of asylum seekers who entered detention in the previous year: Not available Number of asylum seekers detained or an estimation at the end of the previous year (specify if it is an estimation): Not available Number of detention centres: Not available Total capacity: Not available At present, the number of detention centres in Greece and their total capacity is not known with certainty. In practice, any police station that has a detention facility is being used as a detention centre. The capacity of these places is also not known, but it has been observed by the Greek Council for Refugees’ staff that severe overcrowding takes place. The number of asylum seekers in detention at the end of 2012 is not available. The situation has worsened since August 2012 with operation Xenios Zeus, a police ‘sweep’ operation whose objective have been (a) pushing back illegal immigrants from the Evros border and sealing the borders and (b) sending irregularly staying immigrants back to their countries of origin. The size of the operation is demonstrated by the fact that 2.500 officers in the Evros region and 2.000 in Athens participated. The Xenios Zeus operation led to the widespread detention of migrants in different parts of the country. Between August 2012 and February 2013, the police forcibly took almost 85,000 foreigners to police stations for immigration status verification based on little more than their 71 appearance. No more than 6% were found to be in Greece unlawfully. Among them were many 72 asylum seekers and unaccompanied children. No screening for asylum seekers and people seeking international protection had been made. The police often transferred those individuals that did possess documents, to a police station where they detained them for hours pending verification of their legal status. This lengthy and intrusive procedure amounts to arbitrary and discriminatory deprivation of liberty. B. Grounds for detention Indicators: - 71 72 In practice, are asylum seekers automatically detained o on the territory: Yes No o at the border: Yes No Are asylum seekers detained in practice during the Dublin procedure? Yes No Are asylum seekers ever detained during a regular procedure? Yes No Are unaccompanied asylum-seeking children ever detained? Yes Yes, but only in border/transit zones No Are asylum seeking children in families ever detained? Yes Yes, but rarely No What is the maximum detention period set in the legislation (inc extensions): 18 months In practice, how long in average are asylum seekers detained? Not available On the Xenios Zeus Operation, see for instance Human Rights Watch, Unwelcome Guests: Greek Police Abuses of Migrants in Greece, June 2013. Kathimerini, The Results of Operation Xenios Zeus of the Last 6 Months have been Published, 6 February 2013 (in Greek). 47