Today the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) published preliminary observations of its visit to detention facilities in Greece from 10 to 19 April 2018.
The Committee confirmed the persisting reality of wide disparities in standards across Greece’s detention centres. It noted satisfactory conditions in the pre-removal centres of Amygdaleza and Kos and commended these facilities for introducing an open-door regime allowing individuals to leave their rooms during the day. On the other hand, worrying conditions were reported in the pre-removal centre of Moria on Lesvos, where “repair works are required and persons are locked in their rooms for around 22 hours per day.”
The CPT visit focused on the detention conditions prevailing in the Evros region and expressed serious concerns at the abhorrent conditions in the pre-removal centre of Fylakio. During its visit, the CPT found 95 people held in one cell in about 1m2 of living space per person under extreme insalubrity. Moreover, conditions in police stations in the Evros region were described as “grossly sub-standard”. The Isaakio police station cells were found to be filthy and full of waste and sanitary annexes had not been cleaned.
Recent research from the Greek Council for Refugees corroborates these findings and documents the excessive use of detention in Evros, where newly arrived asylum seekers are immediately placed in detention before undergoing a reception and identification procedure.
For further information:
- Greek Council for Refugees, Borderlines of Despair: First-line reception of asylum seekers at the Greek borders, May 2018.
- AIDA, Country Report Greece, 2017 Update, March 2018.
- ECRE, What’s in a name? The reality of First “Reception” at Evros, February 2015.
*This information was first published by AIDA.
Photo: (CC) Rebecca Harms, November 2012
This article appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin . You can subscribe to the Weekly Bulletin here.