The cases involved a 12-year-old Syrian girl and a 10-year-old Afghan boy who arrived in Greece with an adult relative rather than a parent. Pending administrative procedures, they have been kept in Malakasa Camp – a facility close to Athens. They were not allowed to leave the facilities,, rendering them undocumented and without access to education or proper healthcare. While the Greek State claims, that they were not detained, the Court considered the practice detention and ordered the Administration to take all necessary measures for the children to exit the facilities. Both minors were awaiting a decision from the responsible Juvenile Public Prosecutor regarding the relative’s suitability for temporary care.

According to the practice that is enforced by the Malakasa Administration, the minors would remain in this state until the Juvenile Public Prosecutor assigned temporary care to their relative. However, due to significant delays the minors endured this situation for over six months. On behalf of the children, Equal Rights Beyond Borders submitted objections to the Athens Administrative Court of First Instance, contesting this constitutes prolonged detention of the minors. Within ten days, the Court accepted the objections, ruling that the restriction of the minors’ freedom of movement in an “open camp” constituted unlawful detention.

Considering one of the minors, the decision was not implemented immediately by the Administration as provided by law, and the child remained in detention for one additional week.

Statements from Equal Rights’ Legal Representatives:

“Human rights laws offer essential protections regarding detention, especially for minors. Yet states frequently seek to circumvent these provisions. The recent rulings by the Athens Administrative Court highlights the importance of these guarantees, affirming that any attempts to bypass them are unlawful and will not be tolerated. Such findings should serve as a call to action for Greece and other EU Member States to fully comply with fundamental children’s rights laws.”          
— Ioanna Pavlou

“The decisions issued by the Administrative Court of Athens mark a significant step in acknowledging a long-standing and widespread practice within the Malakasa Facilities—one that results in the de facto detention of separated minors, a practice we’ve been striving to expose for quite some time. We hope these rulings will serve as a catalyst for change, ending a system that, in many respects, mirrors the era when unaccompanied minors were routinely placed in protective custody. That practice was the subject of strategic litigation, which ultimately led to a change in the law. We must now follow the same path of accountability and systemic reform.”    
— Iliana Bompou

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Contact: press@equal-rights.org