Introduction HIAS is a global Jewish nonprofit organization that protects refugees—including women and children, and ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities—whose lives are in danger for being who they are. Guided by our values and history, HIAS helps refugees rebuild their lives in safety and advocates to ensure that all displaced people are treated with dignity. HIAS Greece began its operations in 2016 on the Island of Lesvos to increase refugee protection, ensure equal access to rights, and lay the foundation for refugees’ full social integration in Greece. HIAS Greece assists refugees through direct individual legal representation, legal information, and advocating for changes in policy and practice. In August 2017, HIAS opened an office in Athens to expand its advocacy, impact litigation and legal representation. Since its launch, HIAS Greece has provided services to about 2,000 asylum seekers, including representation during asylum procedures and in relation to access to rights and services. This report provides an overview of the legal framework regulating the detention of asylum seekers in Greece and an analysis of the “low profile detention scheme” – under which single males from certain countries are automatically detained – implemented on the island of Lesvos. It then identifies concerning trends and potential legal violations in implementation of this policy. Finally, the report provides a summary of the new 2020 Law on International Protection. The observations included in this report are based on the first-hand experiences of HIAS Greece lawyers who represent asylum seekers detained under the “low profile detention scheme” in the Pre-Removal Detention Center of Lesvos, situated inside the Moria hotspot.1 These findings are further supplemented by the analysis of 40 cases of “low profile detention,” represented by HIAS Greece between October 2017 and October 2019.2 1 Gabe, Cahn. “HIAS Greece Wins Release of Three Detained Syrians on Lesvos.” HIAS, 1 Nov. 2017, https://www.hias.org/blog/hias-greece-wins-release-three-detained-syrians-lesvos. 2 Detailed data on file with the author.

Select target paragraph3