In addition, the frequency of arrests and detention of both undocumented and documented people in Greece, including asylum seekers, is reflected in the exponential increase⁸⁹ in the population of people in administrative detention facilities in Greece in recent years. According to data collected by UCL and ETH Zürich in 2022 and 2023,⁹⁰ 17% of 1,707 people surveyed about their experiences of seeking asylum in Greece, most of whom had arrived in Greece by 2021, reported experiences of detention since arriving in the country. The ongoing detention of people who have booked an appointment amounts to a violation of the EU Reception Conditions Directive, which foresees the use of administrative detention for asylum seekers only in exceptional circumstances. Testimonies indicate that in practice arrests are arbitrary, do not involve a proper assessment of proportionality of detention measures, and people are therefore detained without any legal basis or justification. Detention of asylum seekers with an appointment to register their asylum claim Despite EU law (Recital 27 and Art. 2(b), 2013/32/EU) and Greek legislation (Art. 69, 4939/2022) stating that third country nationals who have expressed their wish to apply for international protection should be recognised as applicants and therefore benefit from protection and reception conditions, our research indicates that applicants are detained on the grounds of staying illegally in Greek territory, even when showing proof of their appointment receipt. According to our research: Applicants have been arbitrarily detained in police stations as well as PRDCs, including Amygdaleza, Corinth and Paranesti. In three cases respondents were detained in more than one detention facility; Applicants have been detained for periods of one month to beyond seven months, and face risk of removal from the territory; Applicants with vulnerabilities have been arrested and detained in PRDCs when presenting at Malakasa RIC. The arbitrary arrest and detention of applicants with registration appointments has also been consistently raised by GCR, particularly while the online platform was suspended between May and August 2023. At least eight Greek Administrative Court Decisions have ruled that this is illegal, yet RSA state that the Greek government has taken no actions to comply with these rulings; in fact it attempted to overturn the case law by unsuccessfully requesting withdrawal of the first of the judgments. 29