“We call it prison.”
| Between November 2022 and March 2023 | Thessaloniki | Anonymous | 45.7908691, 15.9976521 | Detention and Reception Reports | Greece | Police Station in Thessaloniki (Unidentified) | Police Station | no | yes | no | no | no | no | Morocco | Lack of Information on Rights, Overcrowding conditions, Lack of Translation, Lack of Free Legal Information, Lack of Access to Hot Water, Confiscation of devices, Poor Quality/Quantity of Food and/or Water | 61 to 180 days |
The respondent is a man from Morocco, aged 31-45. In December 2022, the respondent was arrested just outside the city of Thessaloniki after making his way from Turkey to Greece by foot. It was reportedly the first time the respondent had been apprehended and detained and he was kept for a total of approximately four months in two separate detention sites. At no point during his detention was the respondent informed on how long he would be kept for nor why he was arrested, “I had no idea.”
The respondent explained that he was brought to what he referred to as a police station outside of Thessaloniki after the apprehension, “they took me first to a police station and it wasn't in Thessaloniki as I know the city, it wasn't close to the city centre, it was quite far away.” He was reportedly held there for approximately 45 days. The respondent stated that while he was detained, there were constantly four to ten people in the cell with him, “...but people were changing, sometimes they get new people in, sometimes they send people to another police station. They release people.”
On the first night spent at this detention site, some other detainees informed the respondent of his right to claim asylum and after refusing the opportunity to be voluntarily deported provided by the officers working at the detention site, he applied for asylum. The respondent stated that he had no translator or access to legal counsel during this process but that some other detainees helped him to fill out the paperwork, “Everything was within the community. There was nobody informing us or getting us translators.”
Whilst being detained the respondent was given a small amount of money, approximately €5.60, to buy food, “with this money you figure it out yourself. You buy your food, you buy your cigarette, your coffee. It's the only source that you have and they don't provide anything extra. In the New Years, they got us something special for New Years day. Other than that, they don't really give anything for free.”
After approximately 45 days, the respondent was told one morning that he was being moved to another detention site. That same day, he was transported to another location about a 25 minute drive away. The respondent described the site as a building surrounded by a wall and that the specific space where they stayed and slept was surrounded by a fence and a wall. “We call it prison.” According to the respondent, there were a maximum of eight people in the cell with him and each person had access to a bed and sheets.
The respondent recalled that they were provided with cleaning supplies to clean the inside of their cell, “They used to clean just the outside and we cleaned the inside. We used to ask for stuff that we use to clean our space and they usually say yes and give us the soap”. There were also sufficient toilets for the number of people detained. When asked about the provision of showers, the respondent stated that there were not many and that they were often cold because they functioned on solar panels, “It’s definitely not easy but people shower yes.”
When describing the type of food he was provided whilst detained, the respondent said that once again, he was given an amount of money (approximately €5.60) to buy essential items, including food. Reportedly, a man with a trolley would pass through the site twice a day, once in the morning and once at midday, and detainees were able to purchase food from him, “He had the basic things that you will need to survive.”
The respondent stated that his phone was confiscated until he was released, “using the phone was forbidden”. There were “old phones” available in the cell that worked through credit phone cards that were available to purchase at the site. However, as the money given was not sufficient, the respondent sometimes had to choose between eating and contacting his family. “If you want to call your family, call a friend, you need to give up some food of yours because money is not enough to buy food and also buy the card so you can call your family.” The call reportedly charged a euro a minute so communication was usually quite brief. “I buy it with four euros and I am from Morocco so when I call my family from Morocco it last for exactly four minutes.”
When asked about medical assistance, the respondent replied, “Actually it was quite good because whoever complains or they have pain or they have a problem with their body, the response is immediate from the police that was there.” Reportedly, while there was no doctor or nurse present on site, detainees would be brought to the hospital to be examined if they had any medical issues. They would then receive their prescription from the “Greek police” in “blue uniforms” at the detention site.
The respondent also noted that, like the first detention site, no translator or legal counsel was provided to him during his detainment as the second detention site.
The respondent said that when he was released from this detention site after approximately one month and 15 days, he was given a paper that allowed him to stay in Greece for 30 days.