Over one year after this report, on February 28, 2023, Equal Rights published a comprehensive update on changes to the legal framework surrounding detention, detention practices and policies, living conditions, and the development of detention practices outside the PRDC. To inform our findings, Equal Rights carried out 10 interviews with detained asylum seekers from May 2022 to November 2022 and analysed files and cases from November 2021 to December 2022. 

Although the Kos authorities in the last year ended the detention of asylum seekers upon arrival, reduced the maximum detention period to six months, and stopped detaining women and families with young children, detained asylum seekers are still subjected to deplorable conditions and substandard legal safeguards outlined in the report. The authorities also continue to automatically detain certain groups of rejected asylum seekers, although there is no reasonable prospect of return to Türkiye, in addition to detaining alleged minors. These factors combined with the carceral environment in detention lead to alarming mental health concerns and an overall deplorable situation for asylum seekers that violate their fundamental rights.  

As we have documented for two years, detention practices on Kos continue to violate the fundamental rights of migrants and particularly their right to liberty.

Although practices have changed significantly during this time period, asylum seekers’ experience on Kos continues to be marked by restrictive measures and, often, detention, demonstrating how detention continues to be an integral part of immigration policy on Kos as well as an essential component of Europe’s general policies towards immigration.

Read the full report here.

Read the press release here.