37 4. Violation of Fundamental Rights Greek authorities must ensure that material re- Equal Rights has been made aware of myriad cants, which guarantees their subsistence and human rights violations in the quarantine facil- protects their physical and mental health.” 131 ities and is particularly concerned that the qual- Such conditions include shelter, food, and other ity of the quarantine facilities themselves necessities to cover daily needs. appears to arbitrarily depend on the island and time period by which an asylum seeker arrives. Without any mechanism available to directly monitor the situation in quarantine, Equal Rights has relied predominantly on clients’ testimonies to assess the quarantine conditions on Chios. The following sections will detail the relevant legal framework, as well as the corresponding violations uncovered through interview testimonies. ception conditions within the quarantine allow for “an adequate standard of living for appli- Moreover, because the quarantine amounts to a detention–as established above–newly arriving asylum seekers placed in quarantine are also entitled to the legal guarantees established to ensure the wellbeing of detained asylum seekers. Specifically, EU and Greek asylum law dictate that “[a]pplicants who are in detention should be treated with full respect for human dignity and their reception should be specifically designed to meet their needs in that situation,”132 a. Legal Guarantees and–like the RCD–impose the minimum stand- EU, Greek, and international law establish min- ard that “material reception conditions provide imum requirements for Greece’s quarantine fa- an adequate standard of living for applicants, cilities. Broadly speaking, Greek COVID-19 laws which guarantees their subsistence and pro- guarantee some basic, although limited, rights tects their physical and mental health.”133 to people in quarantine. However, as asylum Central to the legal guarantees in detention are seekers, people in Lefkonia are entitled to an ad- the provisions laid out in Article 10, 11 and 19134 ditional set of rights primarily provided by the RCD and Article 51 and 59(1) of the IPA. Specifi- RCD, which lay down the standards for the re- cally, Article 10 RCD imposes on Member States ception of applicants for international protec- to ensure access to open-air spaces135, accom- tion and transposed into Greek law through the modation of female applicants separately from Asylum Code. Under this legal framework, male applicants, unless the latter are family Art. 17 para. 2 2013/33/EU; Art. 59(1) Law 4939/2022 (conditions must allow for “an adequate standard of living that guarantees their maintenance and protects their physical and mental health, with a view to respect for human dignity. The same standard of living is ensured in the case of detainees.”). 132 Recital 18 Directive 2013/33/EU; Art. 10 Directive 2013/33/EU; Art. 59(1) Law 4939/2022. 133 Art. 17 Para. 2 and Art. 18 Para. 1(b) Directive 2013/33/EU; Art. 59(1) Law 4939/2022. 134 Health Care is not specifically mentioned for detention in Art. 10, so Art. 19 Directive 2013/33/EU (which does not specifically address detention) applies without modifications. See also Peek/Tsourdis in Hailbronner/Thym EU Immigration and Asylum Law, Part D.V. para 298, p. 1480. 135 Art. 10 (2) Directive 2013/33/EU. Art. 10 (2) must be interpreted in the light of the CPT Standards. The CPT has stated more specifically that every type of prisoner without exception, should be allowed at least one hour of exercise in the open air every day. According to the Committee, this is widely accepted as a basic safeguard and preferably it should be part of a broader programme of activities (CPT Standards, CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1 – Rev. 2011, 18), see also Peek/Tsourdis in Hailbronner/Thym EU Immigration and Asylum Law, Part D.V. para 160, p.1453. 131 ‘Quarantine of Asylum Seeker’ – A legal classification of the quarantine practice on Chios