Section 3: De facto detention in the CCAC 3.1 De Facto Detention of Children Children, both accompanied and unaccompanied, are routinely de facto detained in CCAC. In the first chapter on specific safeguards and protections for "vulnerable applicants of international protection" within the CCAC, we referred to the Article 11(2) RCD requirement that minors should only be detained as a last resort and in separate facilities with access to play and recreational activities. The possible detention of minors is maintained within the EU asylum acquis, but must satisfy a significantly higher threshold in order to justify the deprivation of liberty (Article 5, ECHR) and risk of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 3, ECHR). As a substantive, fundamental and interpretive legal principle, the ‘best interest of the child’ aims to ensure the full and effective enjoyment of rights in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.[104] Several ECtHR cases have determined that the detention of families, in otherwise generally ‘adequate’ conditions, nevertheless amounted to a violation of Article 3, due to the age of the children, and the duration and conditions of detention.[105] In A.M. and Others v France, the detention of two children (aged 2.5 and 4 months) with their mother was found in violation of Article 3, as they were separated only by a net and exposed to significant noise disruptions from the loudspeaker announcements.[106] All efforts should be made to release minors, especially unaccompanied minors, as soon as possible. In this regard, it should be assumed that the Greek state also has an obligation to identify unaccompanied children (UACs) as soon as possible and to act as quickly as possible once an applicant declares themselves to be a minor. It is essential to stress from the outset that for over a year, until November 2022, both accompanied and unaccompanied children were de facto detained in the quarantine zones of the CCAC (see Section 3.2 below). While the situation was challenging for everyone who was detained, the situation was particularly critical for children as their age was not assessed until after the quarantine ___ [104] UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, Article 3. See also, European Commission. n.d. best interests of the child (BIC). Available here. [105] Majcher and Gionco for PICUM. 2022. Immigration Detention and De Facto Detention: What does the law Say? Available here. [106] A.M. and Others v France [2016] ECHR (App No. 24587/12). Page 28