In a statement, RSA says that from the law’s entry into force until the end of 2025, prosecutors brought more than 800 criminal prosecutions under the new provisions, mainly for ‘illegal entry’ and ‘illegal stay’. It adds that the vast majority of these proceedings ended in convictions.
RSA explains that, following its amendment by Law 5226/2025, Article 83 of Law 3386/2005 punishes ‘illegal entry’, ‘illegal exit’ and ‘illegal stay’ with a prison sentence of at least two years. According to RSA, the sentence is suspended only if the person states a wish to leave the country immediately. It adds that even when a sentence is suspended, those convicted remain detained in prisons or in the Greek police’s pre-removal detention centres (PROKEKA) until they leave the country.
RSA says the data it collected also exposes persistent shortcomings in the quality of Greece’s justice statistics. It states that the Ministry of Justice data on case files by prosecutor’s office is incomplete and contradictory in several places, making it impossible to record case files accurately by prosecutor’s office. As examples, RSA notes that the ministry provided zero prosecutions and decisions for the Athens first-instance prosecutor’s office, while it supplied two different tables with contradictory data for the Tripoli first-instance prosecutor’s office.
The organisation also highlights an increase in criminal cases in Crete. According to Ministry of Justice data cited by RSA, the district prosecutors’ offices in Chania and Heraklion filed 200 criminal cases for ‘illegal entry’, while prosecutions were also filed in Heraklion for ‘illegal exit’ and ‘illegal stay’.
By the end of last year, RSA says, almost 300 people were being detained due to convictions for ‘illegal entry’, ‘illegal exit’ or ‘illegal stay’. Specifically, 154 were serving prison sentences, while 131 were being held in PROKEKA after stating their wish to leave the country immediately.
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