Human Rights Watch has recently published a report which not only highlights appalling conditions in a number of Greece’s detention centres but also implicates FRONTEX, as having a role in and responsibility for exposing migrants to inhuman and degrading detention conditions during four months beginning late in 2010 in Greece’s Evros region.
The report highlighted appalling conditions in five detention centres in north-east Greece close to the border with Turkey, with males and females herded together in overcrowded cells, allegations of rape, unaccompanied minors also dumped in packed «cages» with adult males.
Beds were scarce, toilet and washing facilities almost nonexistent, medical help rare, and beatings common for protesters.
In one detention centre, the report found «unaccompanied children mixed with unrelated adults in overcrowded cells. Sewage was running on the floors, and the smell was hard to bear. Greek guards wore surgical masks when they entered the passageway between the large barred cells.» (The Guardian, September 2011)
The report is based on interviews with 65 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Greece in November and December 2010 and February 2011, as well as with Frontex and Greek police officials.
Read press release and download full report by Human Rights Watch
Article by Human Rights Watch’s Bill Frelick- Sharing Greece’s Asylum Shame
Other media:
Greece criticized by Human Rights Watch on detention facilities (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
EU border police ‘turning blind eye’ to abuse of migrants in Greece (The Guardian)
EU complicit in Greek abuse of migrants, watchdog says (EU Observer)
HRW Report: Frontex Exposes Migrants to Abusive Conditions in Greece (Migrants At Sea)