may also leads to prolonged detention of asylum applicants. The Administrative Court of Kavala highlighted in the case of an Iranian national that his will to apply for asylum was not registered due to the lack of interpretation services and thus he had to be considered as an asylum seeker according to the law.1221 Overpassing procedures prescribed by national legislation National legislation provides that newly arrived persons should be initially subjected to reception and identification procedures prior to any assessment of the possibility to impose detention measures. However, during 2024, and in particular in the first half of 2024, newly arrived persons arriving in locations where no RICs/CCACs were in operations (for example Crete, Kalamata etc.) were frequently subject to automatic detention in mainland PRDCs instead of undergoing Reception and Identification procedures, contrary to national legislation and despite the fact that as a rule they are persons belonging to vulnerable groups (e.g. shipwrecks survivors and survivors of dangerous sea journeys). 1.4. Detention without legal basis or de facto detention Apart from detention of asylum applicants under the Asylum Code and pre-removal detention under L 3386/2005 and L 3907/2011, detention without legal basis in national law or de facto detention measures are being applied for immigration purposes. These cases include the following: Detention upon entry in RICs or in the ‘Closed Controlled Access Centres’ (CCAC) Since mid-2022 persons willing to apply for asylum on the mainland have to present themselves to Malakasa Reception and Identification Centers (RIC) –for South Greece– or Diavata RIC –for North Greece– in order to undergo reception and identification procedures and for the full registration of their asylum application. Similarly, on the islands, newly arrived persons are transferred to Closed Controlled Access Centers (CCAC) for reception and identification and for the registration of their application (see sections on The domestic framework: Reception and Identification Centres & Registration of the asylum application). In both cases, as prescribed by Article 40 Asylum Code, all persons in mainland RICs or CCAC on the islands are subject to an up to 25-day restriction of their personal liberty within the premises of the RIC/CCAC; a measure amounting to de facto detention, applied in a generalised, indiscriminate manner.1222 Depending on the registration capacity/workload of the Authorities, prior of the Decision restricting the liberty within the premises of RIC, additional “waiting periods” within the premises of RICs/CCAC are applied which may also amount to de facto detention. This means that, in practice, the only option for persons willing to apply for asylum in Greece is to be subjected to a de facto detention measure. An infringement letter has been sent to the Greek Authorities by the EU Commission on the ground that this provision leads to blanket and de facto detention of asylum applicants, while in accordance with EU law, the detention of asylum applicants can only be imposed exceptionally and under the condition that one of the grounds prescribed in Directive 2013/33/EU is met.1223 Additionally, the Administrative Court of Athens ruled that the restriction of the personal liberty of an Afghan family within the premises of the RIC/CCAC was unlawful, since after a period of more than two weeks their application for asylum was not registered.1224 Other forms of de facto detention such as detention pending transfer to RICs, de facto detention of those arrived in Athens Airport transit zone and detention in the case of alleged pushbacks continued to occur during 2024 according to information received by GCR. In this regard, in the landmark judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in A.R.E. v Greece,1225 supported by GCR, the Court additionally found a violation of Article 5 ECHR due to the informal and arbitrary de facto detention of the Applicant prior of the pushback thought out the Evros river. 1221 Administrative Court of Kavala, Decision 824/2024. Inter alia also see Joint Civil Society Statement, Not Again in 2024: Call for upholding human rights in the Samos Closed Control Access Centre, January 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/4x79wrs4, p. 2. 1223 European Commission, January Infringements package: key decisions, 26 January 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/45tH02U. 1224 Administrative Court of Athens, Decision 2200/2024. 1225 For more information, see Access to the territory and pushbacks. 1222 222