In early April 2020, after the effect of the Decree came to an end, the authorities started to register the detained persons’ intention to seek international protection. On 7 April 2020, the Aliens Directorate of Attica of the Hellenic Police handed several individuals detained in the ‘new’ Malakasa facility referral notes (παραπεμπτικό σημείωμα) to appear before the Asylum Service to register their asylum applications. These notes mention that the individuals in question “were released” from detention. Until the end of the month, however, no one was permitted to exit the facility under any circumstances, while the facility is under police guard. The same situation prevails in Serres for approximately 700 persons, according to reports of asylum seekers detained therein.22 According to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, both Malakasa and Serres continue to operate as closed centres after the suspension of the asylum procedure came to an end.23 Conditions of detention Hundreds of persons wishing to seek international protection have been detained in the two facilities under the March 2020 policy. To the knowledge of RSA, people in the ‘new’ tent facility of Malakasa are held in conditions of severe overcrowding in living units, which render necessary social distancing and health precautions impossible: each tent accommodates approximately ten persons sleeping on gym mattresses and sleeping bags on the floor; there is no access to heating; access to water is not ensured without interruption in daytime and stops at night; hygienic items were only granted after several weeks; and access to medical care is limited, including for pregnant women and infants, as the nearest hospital is more than half an hour drive away. The facility contains no dedicated space for unaccompanied children to separate them from adults and foresees no recreational activities for minor detainees. Unions of police officers in Attica have referred to hygienic conditions in Malakasa as a “ticking bomb” and denounced the complete lack of health and safety measures, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.24 Living conditions in the facility of Serres have equally been described by police officials as wholly inappropriate for residents, without space for outdoor activities.25 The limits of legal challenge against detention Persons subject to asylum and immigration detention in Greece can legally challenge their deportation decision through an administrative appeal (ενδικοφανής προσφυγή)26 before the competent Police Directorate and their deprivation of liberty through an appeal against detention, known as “objections procedure” (αντιρρήσεις 22 23 24 25 26 The Press Project, ‘«Δεν μπορούμε ούτε να βράσουμε νερό για το γάλα των μωρών μας»: Ανοικτή επιστολή αιτούντων άσυλο από τις Σέρρες’, 26 April 2020, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/2Ybr0ST. Ministry of Migration and Asylum, ‘Κλειστές παραμένουν οι δομές Μαλακάσας και Σιντικής Σερρών–Επιστροφές όσων εισήλθαν στη χώρα το Μάρτιο και δε δικαιούνται διεθνούς προστασίας’, 7 April 2020, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/2wJlGLa. Unions of Police Officers of Athens, North-Eastern Attica and Western Attica, ‘Καταγγελία Ενώσεων Αστυνομικών Υπαλλήλων για την Κλειστή Δομή Μαλακάσας’, 26 March 2020, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/2VIEtip; Kathimerini, ‘Υγειονομική βόμβα η κλειστή δομή Μαλακάσας καταγγέλλει η Ενωση Αστυνομικών’, 26 March 2020, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3eloTl4. See also Human Rights Watch, ‘Greek Vessel Takes Syrians, Afghans to Closed Camp’, 16 March 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/2Vha2Ro. Efsyn, ‘Το Κλειδί της πρώτης κόλασης’, 23 March 2020, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/2Vt6V7G. Article 77 Law 3386/2005. RSA LEGAL NOTE │ 2020 5