The Maze of Immigration Detention in Greece: A Case Study of the Athens Airport Detention Facility

Abstract

The paper will begin by giving an overview of the growing problem of irregular migration in Greece. Greece’s geographical location makes it an entry point into the EU for large flows of migrants from the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Today, there are estimated to be around 500.000 irregular migrants in the country. However, with worsening conditions in the country due to the crisis (and with contacts in other more stable EU countries) many irregular migrants also now want to leave Greece. While most discussions of the subject concentrate on the inflow of migrants across the Evros river and land border with Turkey, this paper will discuss both the in and outflow of irregular migrants at Athens airport. Based on 6 months of fieldwork and interviews with hundreds of irregular migrants the paper will look at the problems migrants are facing in Greece and the strategies and technologies employed to evade the efforts of law enforcement at the border, including the use of human smuggling networks.

Keywords: Irregular migrants, Greece, detention, outflow migration