Main nationalities in immigration detention: 2023 5000 4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Return (Return Directive) Deportation (derogation) Asylum (Reception Conditions Directive) Source: Ministry of Citizen Protection, Reply to parliamentary question, 16 Apr 2024 Pre-removal detention may only be imposed where there is a reasonable prospect of removal from the Greek territory, among other conditions. However, in the case of people originating from countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Palestine or Eritrea, pre-removal detention was used without any removal prospect either to the country of origin or to Türkiye. Judicial review of detention A total of 5,001 objections against detention were lodged before the administrative courts in 2023. This means that one out of five detention orders were challenged. Access to this remedy too is undermined by the aforementioned barriers on access to appeals and on the complete lack of compliance on the part of Greece with the duty to provide free legal assistance. The overwhelming majority of objections against detention were lodged with the Administrative Court of Athens (2,890). Others were mainly filed before the Administrative Courts of Corinth (933), Thessaloniki (243) and Piraeus (238). 45.6% of objections against detention examined by the administrative courts on the merits in 2023 were granted: RSA POLICY NOTE │ IMMIGRATION DETENTION | MAY 2024 7