Detention of third-country nationals as an ‘ultimum refugium’ within the EU : reasoning, practice, systematic violations and the role of non-state actors: the case of Greece

Abstract

The present thesis is dealing with immigration detention policy in EU, with a special focus on Greece. It aims to juxtapose theoretic and legal foundations of immigration detention to the everyday practice in Greece. Combining theory, law and practice we want to shed some light on the phenomenon of immigration detention. Our aim is double: firstly, to delegitimise the concept of immigration detention by showing the gap between theory, law and Greek practice and secondly, to explore the perception of and the reaction against the phenomenon by the Greek civil society. For this purpose, we deploy a descriptive approach. In our first part we are exploring different theoretical and philosophical explanations of the notions of sovereignty, security and detention. Our second part is a legal analysis of the current framework on the detention of migrants and asylum seekers, in three distinctive levels: international, European and domestic (Greek) one and of the coherence between them. Our third part is following the methodological approach of law in political science context. It examines the implementation of immigration detention practice in Greece since 2000, the shift after the governmental change of January 2015 and the response of the Greek civil society and its limits.