The Greek NPM: staff, organisation and challenges The number of people subject to immigration detention in Greece increased from 14,864 in 2016 to 31,126 in 2018, a rise of 109%. The number of asylum seekers detained during 2018 was over 18,000 and more than double the 2017 figure[32]. At the end of 2018, 2,098 detainees were held in the 8 pre-removal facilities, including 1,619 asylum seekers; an unknown number were detained in police stations or other facilities[33]. The maximum detention period in pre-removal facilities is 18 months in line with the European Returns Directive[34]. In the Petrou Ralli detention centre, we met with the senior director of Athens immigration detention facilities. He said that 224 administrative detainees were held in Athens facilities: 162 men, 23 women and 39 unaccompanied minors. Half of the unaccompanied children were in ‘protective custody’ awaiting a place in a shelter in the community[35]. The Greek NPM was designated in 2014 and sits within the Greek Ombudsman’s office. At the time of our first research visit in 2016, it was regularly visiting the hotspots, while other Greek Ombudsman staff were routinely monitoring removal flights. Very few detention centre inspections had been undertaken. Independent monitoring had a low profile among detention staff and immigration officials, and was little understood by them. Most recommendations were not accepted or implemented (Bhui, Bosworth and Fili 2018). [32] Asylum Information Database: Country Report Greece, 2018 Update. Last accessed 18.7.19. Available at: http://www.asylumineurope.org/sites/default/files/report-download/aida_gr_2018update.pdf. [33] While the police in a meeting on 22.03.19 confirmed that the practice of detaining people in police centres had ended, ECRE (2019) reports that at the end of 2018, there were 835 persons, of whom 196 were asylum seekers, detained in several other detention facilities countrywide such as police stations, border guard stations, etc. However, this number is not entirely accurate because there is only a breakdown for those detained in police stations on the islands and not the rest of the country. [34] For more information on the length of detention, see: Asylum Information Database: Country Report Greece, 2018 Update. Last accessed 18.7.19. Available at: http://www.asylumineurope.org/sites/default/files/report-download/aida_gr_2018update.pdf [35] Law 4375/2016 regulates the detention of minors. Similar to previous laws, it does not prohibit the detention of minors but rather states that detention should only be employed as a measure of last resort and applied only in very exceptional cases, echoing the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. If children cannot be transferred to appropriate accommodation, the law foresees the possibility of detaining them for up to 25 days pending referral to a shelter, a period that can be further prolonged by another 20 days. Indeed, due to the shortage of open accommodation facilities, their ‘protective custody’, as it is labelled, often exceeds the maximum timelimit. At the end of 2018, 42 unaccompanied children were detained in ‘protective custody’ in the pre-removal centre of Amygdaleza, 44 were detained in police stations and other facilities around Greece, while 701 were in reception and identification centres on the islands. See Asylum Information Database: Country Report Greece, 2018 Update. Last accessed 18.7.19. Available at: http://www.asylumineurope.org/sites/default/files/report-download/aida_gr_2018update.pdf See also the CPT’s comments on the issue: https://rm.coe.int/1680930c9a 19