51 V. Conclusion Even though the quarantine stopped, this re- Rather, it is fundamentally connected to a port reveals, quarantine on Chios has long been years-long effort by the EU and the Greek gov- unmoored from its initial purpose of preventing ernment to transform the “Hotspots” into the spread of COVID-19. Basic COVID-19 pre- closed facilities and detain asylum seekers for vention measures are not followed inside the duration of their procedures. This report Lefkonia—masks are irregularly distributed, thus shows that (1) quarantine on Chios serves people are crowded together, there is no perma- as a new and extra-legal form of detention of nent medical team on-site, and authorities do asylum seekers and (2) such conditions have led not check for vaccination status. In this way, the to major and unchecked human rights viola- Greek authorities have transformed the quaran- tions. As the Greek authorities seek to expand tine from a public-health measure into a puni- migration detention, both monitoring and chal- tive seekers. lenging this type of detention will become in- Ultimately, quarantine on Chios emerged creasingly important not only on Chios but in alongside other efforts to use the COVID-19 border regions across Greece. practice targeting asylum pandemic as cover for implementing hard-line migration polices. However, quarantine on Chios also did not develop in a vacuum or solely in response to COVID-19. --The report was made possible by ‘Quarantine of Asylum Seeker’ – A legal classification of the quarantine practice on Chios