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On 22 January 2026, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) published  its judgment in the case of A.N. and Others v. Greece (Applications nos. 65267/19 and two others) finding that Greece violated Article 3 of the Convention due to inadequate living conditions at the Samos Reception and Identification Centre (RIC).

The case concerned seven unaccompanied children accommodated at the Samos RIC for four to ten months, facing severe overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, inadequate medical and psychosocial support, an insufficient "safe zone" for minors, and an ineffective guardianship system (§§72-79).

The Court emphasised that unaccompanied minors constituted a particularly vulnerable group and that credible allegations of poor conditions can shift the burden of proof to the State (§120). The ECtHR further highlighted that the situation of vulnerable persons, and particularly unaccompanied minors, requires special protection (§124).

Recalling its case-law on the vulnerability of  asylum seeking children and reception conditions in Samos RIC, the ECtHR concluded that, considering their age and their particular vulnerability as unaccompanied minors,  the reception conditions to which they were subjected in and around the Samos RIC amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention. (§134). The Court also decided that there is no need to examine the admissibility and merits of the complaints under Article 13, in conjunction with Articles 3 and 8 as well as the complaint under Article 8 of the Convention.