A new report released today by Equal Rights Beyond Borders raises alarm about the shocking conditions children face in the “Safe Areas” of the Kos and Leros Closed/Controlled Access Centres (CCACs). This report is the first we’ve issued on the Safe Areas and builds on other legal actions and advocacy we will be undertaking in the coming weeks to bring national and international attention to the inhumane treatment that children have been subjected to in these facilities across Greece.

Safe Areas are special sections of CCACs and other reception facilities in Greece, where unaccompanied children are held for months on end. They are not meant for long-term accommodation, lack basic amenities, and force children to endure appallingly poor conditions all while separated from family, civil society, and legal actors. Thousands of children have been detained in Safe Areas across Greece. Equal Rights conducted extensive research on the practices and conditions in the Safe Areas, examining both the legal frameworks and lived experiences of nine young people detained on Kos and Leros. This report covers the period from August 2024 to April 2025. It demonstrates the Greek Government’s systemic failure to protect unaccompanied and separated children at its eastern borders.

Among the report’s findings:

• Although Greek law states that children’s stays in the Safe Areas should be as short as possible, the young people we spoke with were stuck there for an average of two months with no information about how long they would be there.
• The Safe Areas are heavily policed and highly carceral. Save for limited exceptions, unaccompanied and separated children are not able to leave the Safe Areas
• The Safe Areas on Kos and Leros were severely overcrowded, housing several hundred children in facilities that only have space for approximately 70 and 40, respectively.
• Participants faced near constant violence, bullying, and theft, accompanied by police and staff neglect and even physical violence.
• Participants described persistently poor material conditions, like poor sanitation and insect infestations, inadequate provision of food and water, and lack of access to basic health amenities, including psychological care.
• Safe Area staff provided no formal schooling or recreational activities to support the development and education of the young people detained.
• Girls reported harassment by teenage boys, lack of access to feminine hygiene products, and staff neglect regarding gender-specific needs.

This report reveals how Greek authorities have failed to implement effective child protection mechanisms or meet their obligations under Greek, EU, and international law, violating children’s rights and setting a dangerous precedent for the normalization of child detention. It raises significant concerns about both Greece’s and the EU’s commitment to children’s rights at Europe’s borders.

“The worst days of my life I spent in the Safe Area. This is not a camp, it is a jail.” – Interview participant detained in the Kos Safe Area for almost two months in 2025.

Read the full report here.

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Contact: press@equal-rights.org