8 I. Updates to Legal Framework New Asylum Code When Equal Rights first reported on the detention practices on Kos, the relevant asylum law was Law 4636/2019, the International Protection Act (IPA). As described in the first edition of this report, the IPA vastly expanded the grounds for detaining asylum seekers in Greece. Notably, it removed the condition from Law 4375/2016 that the authorities could only detain asylum seekers who applied for asylum from detention, paving the way for the authorities to automatically detain asylum seekers upon arrival on Kos.1 On 10 June 2022, the government published and enacted a new asylum law, Law 4939/2022 (the Asylum Code). Art. 50 of the Asylum Code governs the detention of asylum seekers and replaces Art. 46 of the IPA; however, it does not make any major changes to the detention II. Updates to Detention Practices in the Kos Pre-Removal Detention Centre A. Important Updates to Detention Policies and Practices The first edition of this report identified Kos as a testing ground for some of the harshest immigration detention policies in Greece. Among those practices were the automatic detention of asylum seekers upon arrival, automatic detention of finally rejected applicants, prolonged detention periods, and the detention of vulnerable persons, such as survivors of torture and of gender-based violence (GBV). In this section, we highlight some of the most significant changes to the detention practices and policies on Kos that have occurred November 2021. scheme laid out in Art. 46 of the IPA. Art. 50 of 1. End of Detention Upon Arrival the Asylum Code still allows the authorities to As previously reported, the authorities on Kos detain asylum seekers regardless of whether began detaining all asylum seekers upon they apply for asylum from detention or not, arrival starting in January 2020, except for but, like Art. 46 of the IPA, Art. 50 only allows unaccompanied minors and pregnant the authorities to detain asylum seekers persons.3 We further reported on the exceptionally and if necessary, following an catastrophic consequences this had not only on individualized assessment.2 the physical and mental health of detained applicants but on the outcomes of their asylum cases as well.4 This policy had a particularly detrimental effect on vulnerable applicants, who had no access to medical or psychological care during their detention and asylum See Art. 46(2) L. 4636/2019. Art. 50(2) L. 4939/2022, Art. 50(3) L. 4939/2022. 3 Jamie Kessler et. al., Detained and Forgotten at the Gates of the EU: Detention of Migrants on the Island 1 2 of Kos, Equal Rights Beyond Borders (November 2021), 14, available at: https://bit.ly/3jpqn4X [hereinafter: ‘Detained and Forgotten’]. 4 See Detained and Forgotten, supra note 3, at 22-23. ‘Still detained and forgotten’ – Update on Detention Policies, Practices, and Conditions on Kos 2022/23