UNHCR concern about asylum seekers' detention period extention

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed its concern that the government has amended a Presidential Decree that extends the administrative detention of asylum seekers to 12 months, instead of the previous three, or six in exceptional cases. “Detention of asylum seekers should not constitute a generalized practice but an exceptional measure of last resort,” said the agency in a statement on Friday. The UNHCR added that prolonging the maximum period of detention would not “contribute to the efficient processing of asylum claims submitted by persons who are in detention.”
(19.10.2012) Kathimerini English Edition
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