“I didn’t do any crime. They behaved like we are criminals, like I’m a murderer or a very big criminal. They [were] shouting and screaming at me. In a simple way they treated us like animals. They used batons and said ‘go and sit’, that kind of stuff.”

The respondent is a man from Pakistan aged 26-30, who was apprehended close to the Omonoia district of Athens in the spring of 2022 and detained for one night in Petrou Ralli Pre-Removal Detention Centre (PRDC), and subsequently for three months in Amygdaleza PRDC and for 12 months in Korinthos PRDC. At the time of the interview the respondent was still detained in Korinthos PRDC. The respondent explained that he was not provided with any information on the asylum procedure during his entire period of detention. 

The respondent was reportedly apprehended by Greek-speaking men who were dressed in civil clothing and asked to see his documents. The respondent believed these men to be police officers as they subsequently took him to Petrou Ralli PRDC after he was told that he was being detained because he did not have any documents. 

The respondent recalled that there was one officer wearing a blue uniform present at the PRDC and several additional officers dressed in civil clothing. The respondent reportedly had his personal details taken by the officers, including his fingerprints and photograph, which was taken using a professional camera. The respondent noted that the officers working at the PRDC wrote down his age, first name and surname incorrectly despite him providing this information clearly to them. His mobile phone was reportedly confiscated while he was detained there. 

The respondent explained that the officers detaining him did not offer an explanation for his arrest and detention in a language he could understand. He was also reportedly asked to sign documents written in Greek while detained at Petrou Ralli, and without the assistance of a translator to help him understand their contents. 

Around midnight, the respondent was transported to Amygdaleza PRDC where he had his phone returned. The respondent explained that he was denied access to water or a bathroom until approximately 8am the following morning. When the respondent used the bathroom in the morning, the officers reportedly kicked the door and told him: “you can’t close the door during your pee”. At approximately 11am, the respondent was reportedly given a small bottle of water, some juice, and a piece of dry bread. 

After three months detained in Amygdaleza PRDC the respondent was reportedly moved to Korinthos PRDC without being given a reason for his transfer. On arrival, the respondent’s fingerprints were taken and he was reportedly told by one of the officers in the PRDC: “You don’t have documents and you are staying here for 18 months or going back to Pakistan.” The respondent explained that whenever he asked questions to the officers in the PRDC they reportedly responded with abusive language. The respondent additionally reported that officers wearing civil clothing in Korinthos used their personal mobile phones to take videos of the detainees, further explaining that: “We didn’t ask them why they were taking the videos because they beat us a lot and we don’t want them to beat us again if we ask these types of questions.” 

“I didn’t do any crime. They behaved like we are criminals, like I’m a murderer or a very big criminal. They [were] shouting and screaming at me. In a simple way they treated us like animals. They used batons and said ‘go and sit’, that kind of stuff.”

The respondent reported that at the time of the interview he was detained in a small room with bunk beds along with 11 other people. He described the conditions of this room as “extremely dirty”. The respondent further reported that he found it difficult to sleep on the bunk beds, as they were not securely fastened to the ground, and often moved during the night. The respondent stated that the bathrooms provided to detainees in Korinthos PRDC are unclean and drains are often blocked, while detainees are reportedly provided with minimal cleaning products. 

The respondent described the food provided in Korinthos PRDC as “disgusting” and explained that detainees are typically given a cup of milk and one piece of dry bread for breakfast, and one piece of bread, one piece of fruit, and one portion of food for lunch. The respondent explained that detainees do not feel like eating the food provided and expressed a belief that there were sleeping pills in the food due to the fact that detainees sleep a lot. “We feel that something is wrong with our food. They put sleeping pills to make us all the time lazy.” 

“I became so aggressive and tried to cut my arms so many times. I don’t know why I’m doing this. They put something in our meals and we became like psycho type of person.” 

The respondent reported that he requested access to a psychologist on several occasions while detained in Korinthos but was refused by the authorities. He additionally reported that he was consistently denied access to adequate medical assistance, despite notifying the authorities in the PRDC that he suffers from piles and that he was concerned about a problem with his heartbeat. On one occasion the respondent was taken to a doctor but they reportedly did not supply him with appropriate medication, only painkillers. The respondent explained how officers in the PRDC accused him of lying when he notified them of his health problems and on one occasion reportedly told the respondent: “we will never take you to the doctor again.”

While detained in Korinthos the respondent submitted an asylum claim and was reportedly provided with a translator for the asylum interview, however the respondent believed the translator did not properly convey the details of his claim to the authorities. “Because I speak a little bit of Greek language, I understood that they [the translator] were not conveying my whole message.” The respondent explained that his case was rejected and believed that this was partly the result of the inadequacy of the translation offered. 

During his detention in Korinthos PRDC the respondent reportedly experienced violence at the hands of the authorities detaining him, including at least one incident in which an officer reportedly grabbed the respondent’s hair and pulled it forcefully. The respondent additionally reported that on one occasion a fight broke out in the Centre between detainees but the authorities did not intervene, instead reportedly “just watching”. The respondent noted that there are a lot of CCTV cameras in the PRDC but stated that officers did not use these to detect and intervene in fights between detainees. 

The respondent reported that he was aware of many Pakistani nationals detained in Korinthos being transferred to Amygdaleza prior to their deportation. The respondent explained that many have their phones confiscated by the officials detaining them, rendering them unable to access legal counsel or notify any third parties of their forced removal from Greece.