The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) published preliminary observations on its ad hoc visit to Greece and migrant detention centers there from April 10 to April 19 of this year. As reported by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), the CPT, “confirmed the persisting reality of wide dispartities in standards across Greece’s detention centers.”
The CPT found “good conditions” during its visit in the center in Amygdaleza and Kos, and praised the fact that the centers have an open-door regime, which allows migrants to leave their rooms during the day. On the other hand, the CPT said conditions “remain very poor” at the Moria pre-departure detention centre on Lesvos island. “Repair works are required and persons are locked in their rooms for around 22 hours per day,” it said.
The situation in Evros
The CPT’s visit focused on detention conditions primarily in the region of Evros and expressed serious concerns for the “appalling conditions” in the pre-detention centre in Fylakio.During its visit, the
CPT found 95 people detained in about 1 square metre of living space per person, in extremely filthy conditions. In addition, conditions in police stations in the Evros region were described as “grossly sub-standard.” The cells at the Isaakio police station were found “filthy and full of waste” and the “sanitary annexes had not been cleaned.”
According to ECRE, 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.
 published preliminary observations on its ad hoc visit to Greece and migrant detention centers there from April 10 to April 19 of this year. As reported){kind=link}