491.411 orders to leave, out of which only 24.5 per cent were enforced (on average per year). These orders were rarely enforced with a judicially approved deportation proceeding, because most irregular migrants lacked the travel documents to leave the country legally. In 2014, in the midst of its worst economic crisis and given the extreme costs of forced returns (Ageli et al., 2014), the Greek government ceased all deportations. However, this was not accompanied by a reduction in the number of detainees as one would expect; in fact, the detainee population continued to increase (Asylum Information Database, 2015). The return procedure did not only apply to ‘deportable aliens.’ Those who could not be deported within a specific amount of time (usually one year), were released. Upon release, they were issued with a police notice (‘white card’) insisting they leave the country voluntarily within 30 days (sometimes it is seven days), even though this departure was legally impossible for irregular migrants. This card was usually in Greek and was not accompanied by any information in their language. It was sometimes mistakenly considered an identity card or a travel document. In essence this white card was seen as a ticket from the border to Athens and then to another country. Thus, the majority remained in the country undocumented; released only to be arrested, detained again and issued yet another white card. Asylum seekers did not escape detention either. In accordance with Presidential Decree 114/2010, asylum seekers could be detained for six months in order to establish their identity and effectively examine their asylum claims (Presidential Decree 114/2010, 2010). Following a mass application for asylum by persons held in the Corinth pre-departure centre, which was considered to be an abuse of the asylum system, the Greek authorities adopted Presidential Decree 116/2012, which provided for the detention of asylum seekers to be extended by an additional period of up to 12 months (Presidential Decree 116/2012, 2012). Consequently, asylum seekers would be detained for up to 18 months. This was further supported by an advisory opinion of the Greek Legal Council that allowed authorities to prolong detention beyond the 18-month limit until the detainee has consented to be returned (Greek Council for Refugees, 2014). The obsession with detention did not escape sick people either. Article 59 of Law 4075/2012 added an additional ground of threat to public health, based on a suspicion of carrying an infectious disease due to, inter alia, the country of origin or living conditions, which did not meet the 104