2 DETENTION: AN INCREASING TREND As of 30 June 2021, 2,392 people were being detained in seven Pre-Removal Detention Centres (PROKEKA) in Greece (Amygdaleza, Tavros, Korinthos, Paranesti, Xanthi, Fylakio and Kos). 4 According to data provided to the Greek Parliament by the Ministry of Citizen Protection, 1,109 of these people (nearly 50%) had been detained for more than six months. Apart from the people in PROKEKA, a further 601 people were being detained in police stations. This makes a total of 2,993 people in detention as of 30 June 2021. 5 The total number of migrants issued detention orders increased considerably between 2016 and 2019. Asylum seekers comprise the majority of detention decisions. In 2016, the total number of persons issued detention decisions was 14,864, of which 4,072 were asylum seekers. By 2019, this number had doubled to 30,007. 6 Figure 1: Between 2016 and 2019, the number of detainees doubled A decrease in detention decisions occurred in 2020, with a total of 14,993 detention decisions issued throughout the year, of which 10,130 applied to asylum seekers. 7 This decrease can be attributed both to movement restrictions because of the pandemic and fewer arrivals in the Greek islands. At the end of 2020, there were 2,408 people in detention in pre-removal centres, compared with 2,847 at the end of 2019. The divergence in these numbers comes from the fact that the migrants issued detention decisions were not all detained at the same time or in some cases, not detained at all. Additionally, the duration of the detentions varies from several days to many months. Still, according to the most recent data, in the first six months of 2021, there were 9,575 decisions for administrative detention, which represents a significant reduction compared with 2020. The majority (7,247) were issued under the provisions of L3907/2011 (concerning returns), 1,980 under L.3386/2005 (concerning deportations), and only 348 under the provisions of L4636/2019 (concerning asylum law). 8 6