10 should have expired by that point. However, March 2022 that number had shrunk to 82,9 the police informed Equal Rights that there and by the end of January 2023, there were was no new detention order in his case because only 34 people detained in the PRDC,10 a his initial order was for six rather than three drastic change for a facility that only a few months. In January 2023, Equal Rights years prior was at capacity. The lower number confirmed with the police that they do not of people in detention can be attributed to at review a person’s detention every three least three major factors: first, and having the months and nor do they forward files to the largest impact, was the ending of automatic competent administrative court in Rhodes for detention on arrival. Additionally, the shorter judicial review. Not only does this practice maximum period of detention means that eliminate any chance for judicial review—a there is more frequent turnover in the PRDC. necessary check on the detention system—but Finally, in May 2022, the Kos Regional Asylum renders meaningless the authorities’ obligation Office (RAO) began issuing rejected asylum to continuously review a person’s detention to seekers voluntary return orders with their first ensure that it is necessary and that the grounds instance rejections. Applicants who use the for it are still met. voluntary return order to leave the CCAC and 7 Kos consequently avoid being detention upon a second instance rejection. B. Pathways to Detention and Current Demographics As of the publishing of this report, only single The November 2021 edition of this report women, families, or recognized minors. focused on the mass detention of asylum However, the authorities continue to detain seekers and rejected asylum seekers on Kos, in vulnerable persons, often unknowingly, along which almost no exceptions were made for with many prima facie minors who have been vulnerable applicants, single women, or wrongly registered as adults. families. This section provides an overview on 1. Pathways to Detention: Legal Status of People Detained in the PRDC the current demographics in the PRDC, highlighting the various pathways through which people now end up in detention and the different groups of people currently detained. As the detention policies have changed on Kos, so too have the demographics inside the PRDC. At the beginning of November 2021, there were 131 people detained in the PRDC.8 By mid7 8 Art. 15(5) Directive 2008/115/EC; Art. 30(5) L. 3907/2011. Hellenic Republic Ministry of Citizen Protection National Coordination Center for Border Control, Immigration and Asylum (NCCBCIA), National Situational Picture Regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (01 November 2021), available at: https://bit.ly/3QYUDjK. men were detained in the PRDC; there were no i. Rejected Asylum Seekers As reported in the November 2021 edition of this report, the automatic detention of rejected asylum seekers on Kos is a routine practice. Historically, all rejected asylum seekers were 9 NCCBCIA, National Situational Picture Regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (15 March 2022), available at: https://bit.ly/3iRT7Dz. 10 NCCBCIA, National Situational Picture Regarding the Islands at Eastern Aegean Sea (01 January 2023), available at: https://bit.ly/3XI6lSc. ‘Still detained and forgotten’ – Update on Detention Policies, Practices, and Conditions on Kos 2022/23