“I questioned [the officers] several times, in Amygdaleza and Corinth [PRDCs], [about] why they bring us here and they always said we don’t know anything.”

The respondent is a man aged 26–30 from Pakistan who was apprehended in the Athens area in February 2022 and subsequently detained for just under 13 months, prior to being deported to Pakistan. The respondent was reportedly detained initially at Marousi police station for 74 days. Following this, the respondent was detained at Amygdaleza Pre-Removal Detention Centre (PRDC), Corinth PRDC, and Amygdaleza PRDC again prior to his deportation. 

The respondent reported that he was apprehended along with 11 other people by seven to eight officers wearing blue uniforms and helmets whom the respondent described as “policemen”. The officers apprehending the group reportedly checked their documents and subsequently took them to a detention facility which the respondent described as “Marousi police station”. The respondent recalled that the group was transported for 30 minutes in a van which he described as “totally covered” and with bars on the outside. 

At Marousi police station the respondent was reportedly detained along with the 11 other members of his group in a “totally dark” basement room. There were reportedly three to four officers on duty at one time at the facility, some of whom wore civil clothing and others blue uniforms. 

The respondent reported that his fingerprints were taken by the officers working at the police station and that he was pressured into signing documents in Greek, which he did not understand, and without the help of a translator. The respondent went on to explain: “When they [the officers] gave us papers or documents for signature, they said that you have to do it right now. If we asked them questions, they said you have to sign, don’t ask questions from us.” 

The respondent described the room in which he was detained at Marousi police station as unclean. He additionally reported that he was not able to wash his clothes during the entire duration of his detention there, and had to share one toilet with the other 11 members of the group. The respondent asked the officers at Marousi police station about the asylum procedure but was reportedly told: “we don’t know anything about this.” 

After being detained for 74 days at Marousi police station the respondent was taken to Amygdaleza PRDC without being given a reason for his transfer. “I questioned [the officers] several times, in Amygdaleza and Corinth [PRDCs], [about] why they bring us here and they always said we don’t know anything.” 

The first time the respondent was detained at Amygdaleza PRDC he was reportedly held in a container room with seven other individuals. The respondent reported that there was always one Greek-speaking officer wearing a dark blue uniform sitting outside the container. The respondent described the conditions as cramped and stated that the room did not have lights and was unclean. The respondent explained that there was not enough space or mattresses for eight people in the room and some detainees reportedly had to share beds. The respondent additionally reported that the toilets he had access to at the PRDC were “extremely dirty”. 

The respondent reported that he was given food three times a day while detained at Amygdaleza PRDC which he described as not being fresh. The respondent additionally reported that he and others in the room he was detained in had to drink water from the toilets because the officers reportedly did not provide them with drinking water. 

While detained at Amygdaleza, the respondent reportedly asked the authorities for access to a doctor on several occasions. The respondent explained that officers told him “okay, we will do that,” but never actually took him or the people he was detained with to a doctor.  

The respondent was reportedly transferred to Corinth PRDC in a closed van driven by an officer wearing civil clothing, and without being provided with a reason for his transfer. 

At Corinth PRDC the respondent was reportedly detained in a room with 11 other people which was “totally locked” and only let outside for four hours per day. The respondent reported that there was always an officer on duty sitting outside the cell at Corinth PRDC and that they wore the same dark blue uniforms as in Amygdaleza. 

The respondent described the room as very dirty and reported that there were “a lot of insects” in the mattresses given to detainees as well as cockroaches in the room. “Nobody came for cleaning, and we didn’t have anything to clean [the room] ourselves.” The respondent explained that he reported the unclean conditions to officers on duty at the PRDC but was told “we don’t know anything about that”. 

The respondent reported that the food at Corinth PRDC was “a little better” compared to Amygdaleza, but that detainees were not provided with drinking water. 

The respondent reported that he witnessed incidents of violence against detainees at Corinth PRDC by officers wearing blue uniforms. The respondent described how he witnessed officers using “an electric stick” to beat detainees inside the room in which he was detained. The respondent additionally reported that he witnessed up to nine or 10 officers beating one detainee at the same time. The respondent described how one detainee was beaten after he reportedly asked the authorities why he was being detained at Corinth PRDC. The respondent also explained that officers responded to conflicts within the PRDC by beating detainees. 

The respondent was reportedly transferred from Corinth PRDC back to Amygdaleza PRDC prior to being deported to Pakistan. Further explaining his current situation, he stated: “I lived in Greece for almost eight years. I want to submit my seven years proof papers [seven year residency permit]. I don’t want to live here in Pakistan. We struggle a lot here [in Pakistan].”