11 detained, including single women and families is per se unlawful.14 More broadly though, there with children, although by the time we has not been a single organized readmission of published the first report, the authorities had a rejected asylum seeker carried out from the stopped detaining families. Additionally, the Kos PRDC to any country, let alone to Türkiye, majority of the people we interviewed for the since January 2021.15 In October 2022, Equal November 2021 report had been detained as Rights submitted a complaint to the Greek asylum seekers upon arrival and had had their Ombudsman on behalf of six rejected Egyptian detention renewed under the return law upon asylum seekers detained in the Kos PRDC. The final rejection. Today, the authorities continue complaint followed a similar submission from to automatically detain many rejected asylum July 2019 that we submitted on behalf of 19 seekers and rejected asylum seekers made up detained individuals16 and argued that the the vast majority of participants in this applicants’ prolonged detention was unlawful report. However, in contrast to previous because there was no prospect of their policies, the authorities now only detain single removal. The Ombudsman issued an opinion in male rejected asylum seekers. early November 2022 finding that the The reasons why the detention of rejected applicants were illegally detained and called asylum seekers as a rule amounts to an for their immediate release. The Ombudsman unlawful deprivation of liberty were described also noted that the police must have known in detail extensively in the first edition of this from the start of their detention that there was report. The detention of rejected asylum no prospect of return because readmissions to seekers on Kos remains unlawful mainly Türkiye had been suspended for more than two because there is no reasonable prospect of years by the time the applicants were detained. return. 12 As readmissions to Türkiye have been Despite the Ombudsman’s opinion, the police suspended since March 2020 and likely will refused to release the six individuals, claiming 11 not resume in the near future,13 detaining asylum seekers with a return order to Türkiye 9/10 of the people interviewed for this report were detained after receiving a final rejection. 12 Art. 15 (4) Directive 2008/115/EC; Art. 30(4) L. 3907/2011. 13 COM, SWD(2021) 290, 19/10/2021, p. 48; Reply to parliamentary question by Ms Johansson on behalf of the COM, Reference: P-000604/2021, 1/6/2021, https://bit.ly/3p2LVE8; COM, SWD(2020) 355 final, 6/10/2020, 48; Hellenic Republic Ministry of Migration & Asylum, Report A June 2022 Reception, Identification & Asylum Procedures (June 2022), 12, 11 https://bit.ly/3zGXeqa. 14 Equal Rights has litigated this issue extensively before Greek and European courts and institutions. Equal Rights has won 9 objections before the Administrative Court of Rhodes based on the argument that there was no reasonable prospect of the applicants’ return since January 2021. Additionally, the Greek Ombudsman has intervened with the police on the issue following that readmissions may resume at some point before the applicants’ six-month detention two separate interventions filed by Equal Rights on behalf of 25 detained rejected asylum seekers. In both instances, the Ombudsman found that the applicants’ detention was unlawful and thus should be lifted because there was no reasonable prospect of their return to Türkiye or their home countries. Equal Rights Beyond Borders, Greek Police refuse Ombudsman’s request to lift the administrative detention of six Egyptian citizens (11 November 2022), available at: https://bit.ly/3vi6i2V; Equal Rights Beyond Borders, Greek Ombudsman calls for release of 19 persons who are unlawfully detained in the pre-removal detention centre on Kos (3 August 2021), available at: https://bit.ly/3jjAGY9. 15 Does not include so-called voluntary returns carried out by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). 16 Art. 15 (4) Directive 2008/115/EC; Art. 30(4) L. 3907/2011. ‘Still detained and forgotten’ – Update on Detention Policies, Practices, and Conditions on Kos 2022/23