ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ: ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

170 The ‘hotspot’ approach: key findings from Greece been enduring difficult living conditions, exposed to significant risks on the islands for months or more. 80 One such policy is the “pilot project” (now often referred to as the “low profile project”), whereby individuals of initially 6, now 28, ‘low asylum recognition’ na- tionalities are detained upon arrival in the detention section in Moria hotspot on Lesvos, while they undergo an accelerated asylum procedure. This policy has pro- gressively led to increased use of automatic administrative detention of all newly arrived single male asylum seekers, often irrespective of nationality and without due process, which is against the procedural safeguards of Reception Conditions, Asylum Procedures, and Returns Directives, 81 as well as the principle of propor- tionality. 82 The issue has been brought to the fore in the successful legal challenge of the detention of three Syrians in late October 2017. 83 In this respect, it is worth noting that although political leaders hail the EU -Turkey statement as a success, seeking to curb the flows of arrivals to the Greek islands, they have also expressed disappointment at the number of returns to Turkey as well as human rights violations. 84 Besides, it should be underlined that several scholars and human right organisations wonder whether this containment policy works as intended in the longer term. It is also questioned if the concept of “safe third country” to be applied is aligned to the standards of treatment of the 1951 Convention and international human rights standards. 85 That said, the framework 80. MdM Greece, Report on the Situation in the Reception & Identification Centre of Moria Lesvos, January 2017; Save the Children, A tide of Self harm and depression: The EU-Turkey Deal’s devastating impact on child refugees and migrants, March 2017, http://mdmgreece.gr/app/uploads/2017/03/Report-on-the-Situation-Moria-Hotspot- January-2017.pdf. 81. The Reception Conditions, Asylum Procedures, and Returns Directives set minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers including housing and health care, for example, and also seeks to limit and regulate detention of asylum seekers, for example, as the right to freedom from arbitrary detention is a fundamental right, http://eur-lex. europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX :32013L0033&from=en. 82. Joint NGO roadmap for more fair and humane policies: Transitioning to a Government - run refygee and migrant response in Greece (Dec 2017), https://drc.ngo/ media/4154531/joint-ngo-roadmap-12122017.pdf. 83. HIAS Greece wins release of three detained Syrians in Lesvos, 01 November 2017, https://www.hias.org/blog/hias-greece-wins-release-three-detained-syrians-lesvos. 84. Angela Merkel: EU-Turkey deal hasn’t “gone as far as we hoped,” Politico, October 12, 2016, https://www.politico.eu/article/angela-merkel-eu-turkey-migration-deal- greece-north-africa/. Commission reports on progress made under the European Agen- da on Migration, European Commission press release, December 8, 2016, http://eu- ropa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-4281_en.htm. 85. Legal considerations on the return of asylum seekers and refugees from Greece to Turkey as part of the EU-Turkey Cooperation in Tackling the Migration Crisis under the