
Detained for seeking Protection: Abdo's 200 days in legal limbo in Greece
Abdo, a Yemeni national fleeing war was detained in Greece upon arrival and was denied access to asylum due to the unlawful suspension of asylum of art. 79 L. 5218/2025. Despite having strong grounds of protection, he spent more than six months in arbitraty detention since the Asylum Service abusively delayed the examination of his asylum claim claiming an ongoing investigation of his criminal file. Following legal intervention, Administrative Court of Kavala ruled his detention unlawful, and Abdo was ultimately granted refugee status, exposing a widely applied practice by Greek Authorities: the instrumentalization of criminal charges - even for minor offences or pending cases - to justify the administrative detention of foreign nationals.








