"If you want to see a doctor they make you beg them, they provoke you, the same thing for clothes."

The respondent is a man from Morocco aged 18 - 25 who was apprehended in the afternoon on a day between July and December 2022 at a location approximately 30 minutes’ drive from the centre of Katerini, northern Greece. Following his apprehension the respondent was detained at Katerini police station for 37 days and subsequently transferred to Paranesti Pre-Removal Detention Centre (PRDC), where he was detained for a further five months. 

The respondent was reportedly apprehended in a transit group consisting of two other Moroccan men aged 26-30, by officers whom the respondent believed were “normal police of the city” due to the fact that they were wearing blue uniforms with a Greek flag on them. The respondent recalled that the officers who apprehended his group had a white vehicle with blue writing on it. 

After his apprehension the respondent was transported along with the two other members of his group to a building located in the centre of Katerini. The respondent described the building as a police station with three floors and reported that the people working there spoke Greek and wore dark blue uniforms. 

On arrival the respondent and his group were reportedly searched by officers who took their backpacks, power banks, and money. The respondent believed that the officers took these items for themselves (“the things that they need, they take”). The respondent additionally reported that he had his phone confiscated while detained at the police station, but that this was returned when he was later transferred to Paranesti PRDC. 

At the police station the respondent reportedly had his personal details taken, including fingerprints, photograph, and full name. The respondent recalled that these details were taken in a small room located on the second floor of the building. The respondent was then detained in a cell along with 20 other men who he described as aged between 17 and 30 and from Pakistan, India, Morocco and Afghanistan. The respondent recalled that the 17-year-old detained in his cell was scared and informed the officers at the detention facility of his age, who reportedly told him: “you’re lying. That can’t be true. That’s not your real age.” 

The respondent explained that he was not provided with any information on the asylum procedure by the officers working at this police station. He additionally reported that there was an Arabic translator present but none who could speak Urdu. 

The respondent reported that the officers working at the police station changed into black clothing and removed their badges “if they heard that there was a migrant around and they wanted to go out and get them.” The respondent further explained this belief, stating that, during his 37 day detention at the facility, he witnessed several incidents in which officers changed into black clothing and subsequently returned to the police station with one or more detainees.

At the police station the respondent was reportedly provided with a thin mattress to sleep on. The respondent explained that there was no heating system and detainees were not provided with sufficient blankets to keep them warm at night. The respondent additionally reported that he was not provided with shampoo, towels or soap. 

The respondent explained that no food was provided by the authorities at the police station, and that detainees were given five euros per day to buy goods from a person who came to the police station every day. The food sold by this person was reportedly very expensive, for instance two euros for one piece of bread. The respondent additionally reported that detainees were not provided with drinking water and had to drink unfiltered water from the tap. 

While detained at the police station the respondent reportedly witnessed incidents in which officers verbally abused detainees in Greek, for instance calling them “gamisou” and “malaka”. “They were insulting all of us. They were racist, that’s why they were insulting all of us.” The respondent explained that detainees were subjected to verbal abuse if they were found to be using more than one mattress to sleep on. 

During his detention at the police station the respondent was reportedly taken to a hospital in a 4X4 car with no writing or symbols on it. The respondent reported that it felt like the authorities were “kidnapping” him as he could not see out of the vehicle and was not informed where he was being transported to. The respondent additionally described how he was handcuffed during the whole period of transportation and while at the hospital. At the hospital the respondent reportedly received an injection without being informed what this was for. 

After 37 days, the respondent was reportedly transferred to Paranesti PRDC in a large blue van along with two other people. On arrival the respondent was reportedly body searched, during which he had to undress, and subsequently detained in a room with nine other people. The respondent reported that there were approximately 500 people detained at Paranesti PRDC at this time, including nationals from Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Cuba, Congo and other unspecified African countries. 

During his detention at Paranesti PRDC the respondent was reportedly provided with two meals per day which he described as poor in quality, and was reportedly denied access to drinking water. Instead detainees reportedly had to drink unfiltered water from the tap which the respondent described as full of limescale.

While being detained at Paranesti PRDC the respondent reportedly witnessed officers mistreating detainees, including through the use of abusive language such as “malaka” in response to individuals asking to be provided with a reason for their detention. The respondent further explained: “If you want to see a doctor they make you beg them, they provoke you, the same thing for clothes. They make you angry. They promise you and then they don’t give you. That’s what we experienced.” 

The respondent additionally reported witnessing incidents in which officers beat detainees who were involved in conflicts within the PRDC. “If you fight, if the police see you on the cameras, they come, they take you away, they beat you and detain you for 1-2 days, then they put you back in your cell.” The respondent further reported that officers beat detainees who talk back to officers. “If a police insults them they insult them back. They [the police officers] remember them and they beat them up.” 

The respondent explained that some detainees reportedly beaten by officials at Paranesti PRDC subsequently required medical attention, but were denied this by the authorities unless their condition was  critical.