“Kato Poria is just like Guantanamo prison”

The respondent is a man (age group 31-45y) from Afghanistan. The respondent shared that he was apprehended between January and June 2022 along with four others in a forest in northern Greece, which the respondent was not able to specifically locate, by three police officers, reportedly one woman and two men. At the time of the apprehension the respondent had reportedly applied for asylum in Greece. Furthermore, the respondent reported that at the time of the apprehension members of the group had recently suffered injuries caused by animal attacks.

“During the night we were attacked by animals. Because of this I had bleeding. I was with four people in the same condition. We had to use our clothes to stop the bleeding.”

The respondent reported that the group was then taken to a police station in Serres where the police officers reportedly registered their fingerprints and made them sign documents. The respondent explained that the group stayed for two days at the police station. The respondent reported that he was not provided with food or other assistance while being detained at the police station.

After two days following the apprehension, the group was taken to a second police station in Kato Poria, close to the border with North Macedonia. At this police station, officers reportedly informed the group that they would shortly receive documents to allow them to enter the asylum procedure in Greece. However, the group was reportedly detained for two weeks in the police station in degrading conditions without adequate medical care and access to legal advice, before they were able to submit an asylum claim.

“That place was like a prison. It was very dark and unhygienic. [...] I have seen a lot of difficult situations of people thinking about committing suicide. Kato Poria is just like Guantanamo prison. ”

The group reportedly submitted asylum claims at Kato Poria police station after 14-16 days of detention there. The respondent additionally reported that the group was taken to the hospital to receive medical treatment for their injuries after 10 days following the submission of their asylum applications. 

The group was then reportedly transported by the authorities to a building located close to the Asylum Service office in Thessaloniki. The respondent described this facility as a place where “the illegal migrants and criminals are kept.” The respondent was kept at this detention facility “for a few days” until he obtained an asylum seeker card. He was subsequently transferred to an open camp for asylum seekers at Diavata.