28 being administered to them, what their results police that there was an actual risk to his life were at the hospital, and more. and requested access to medical care and For example, Idris was one of Equal Rights’ clients who had serious asthma and needed a new inhaler. He informed an Equal Rights lawyer he had been requesting a new inhaler for a month and a half, showing the police a translated message that read: “Please, I am telling you I feel a really strong tightness in my provision of medication, the police released him due to humanitarian reasons as there was no free access to a cardiologist on the island of Kos. The client was then transferred to Athens and referred by Equal Rights to an non-profit organization for basic medical care as his lack of documentation prevented him from access to chest, and I need to go to the hospital.’” Instead of public hospitals. giving him an inhaler, he informed Equal In yet another case, a client in detention Rights, “[The police] give me a pill in the morning suffered from severe cardiology problems and and the evening, but they won’t even tell me what high blood pressure every day. In response, the the pill is. I just want to know what the pill is.” authorities provided him with hot water and Upon intervening and requesting information lemon as he had general allergies to regarding the medication and access to a new inhaler, the police informed Equal Rights that the client needed to purchase the inhaler from a pharmacy or a private doctor, both of which were unavailable to the client because he was medications. The cardiologist from the hospital did not have any availability to examine the client, and he could not afford a private doctor. Equal Rights thus submitted a medical intervention on behalf of the client, and he was confined in detention and lacked the financial released two days later. means. Only after multiple communications As demonstrated, the lack of access to medical with the police and nurse were Equal Rights care puts clients’ lives at risk and often requires staff able to advocate the nurse within the legal intervention to prevent potentially fatal PRDC to give the client an inhaler, causing consequences. severe mental distress to the client as he feared his inhaler would expire before accessing a new one. Idris’ story is one of many. Although not interviewed for this report, Equal Rights represented a client who was extremely vulnerable, experiencing diabetes, cardiovascular failure, and injury of his vertebral columns, among other things. Despite his medical conditions, he had his medication confiscated upon being arrested by the police. After Equal Rights staff alerted the 53 4. Deteriorating Mental Health Detention also continued to have devastating impacts on participants’ mental health, either exacerbating or causing mental health issues. At least six participants shared with the Equal Rights team that they were having suicidal thoughts during the reporting period, while a third individual reported a friend of his in the PRDC attempted to die by suicide.53 Despite the clear need, individuals detained in the PRDC do not have access to mental health care services: there is no psychologist nor a public medical Individuals were not directly asked about experiencing suicidal ideation, meaning it is possible that more participants than reported experienced such thoughts. ‘Still detained and forgotten’ – Update on Detention Policies, Practices, and Conditions on Kos 2023/24