Continuation of detention without a legal basis “Low profile” detainees often remain in detention even when the legal basis invoked for the deprivation of their liberty has ceased to exist and without their status as asylum seekers and their vulnerability being taken into consideration. A significant number of asylum seekers detained under the “low profile detention scheme” (usually more than 50% of all “low profile” detainees), speak languages and dialects for which the Asylum Service cannot provide interpretation. Twenty-five of the 40 cases that have been represented by HIAS Greece fall under this category. Due to lack of interpretation, in about half of these cases, Lesvos RAO was unable to register their application for international protection. Hence, the applicants, despite their declared “will” to apply for asylum, continued being detained on the basis of the original readmission decision, without their status as asylum seekers having been taken into consideration and without the procedural safeguards foreseen in Art. 46 of Law 4375/2016 (continuation of detention of asylum seekers only after a recommendation by the Head of Lesvos RAO to this effect, automatic judicial review of the legality of the detention, etc.). In the remaining cases, Lesvos RAO was able to register the applications for international protection, either by conducting the registration in French, for those applicants who had a basic understanding of French, or by using other asylum seekers as interpreters. However, due to the lack of professional interpretation, no asylum interview could be scheduled for the above 25 applicants during their detention. Therefore, their readmission to Turkey was halted indefinitely and until the Asylum Service could provide interpretation in their language. The Asylum Service has been unsuccessful in securing interpretation for the majority of these languages over the course of the last three years. Hence, the return proceedings could not be considered as ongoing or pursued with due diligence and, accordingly, their detention in view of readmission lacked legal basis. Similarly, as per Art. 46(4)(a) of L. 4375/2016, “4. a. The detention of applicants for international protection shall be imposed for the minimum necessary period of time. Delays in administrative procedures that cannot be attributed to the applicant shall not justify a continuation of detention.” Eventually, these detainees were released either due to the expiration of the maximum detention time (90 days, in principle), either because they were later found to belong to one of the categories of vulnerable persons, or because their detention was successfully challenged before the Administrative Court. In 17 out of the 40 “low profile detention” cases represented by our organization, the asylum seekers were detained for more than one month under the original readmission/detention decision, without their status as asylum seekers having been taken into consideration. Welcome the stranger. Protect the refugee. | 13 13 12