6. Detention and detention centres 33 Detention centre of Soufli There is also a second, smaller cell inside the building, which belongs to the police station. This cell was originally intended for penal detainees who stay in pre-trial detention. It is situated in between the office of the border guards and the police facility. It is not evident according to what criteria someone is detained there. During our visits, irregular migrants and asylum seekers, both men and women, were held there. We met detainees who had been transferred into that cell after being beaten by the police, or who were on hunger strike. It thus seems to be also used as a disciplinary cell. The main cell of the borderguard station has five long windows close to the ceiling. Daylight and fresh air rarely enter the room. The windows cannot be closed. In winter, the detainees had to close the windows with cardboards and clothes in order to protect themselves from the cold, thus further preventing fresh air from entering. Furthermore, many detainees smoke. The heating did not function either, as there was no petrol. »Since I am here, there is no heating!«100 In summer, there was no ventilation and detainees complained suffering from insect bites. Detainees complained to us that they were not allowed to go outside. This was confirmed to us by the police officers in charge, who said that this was because the station did not have a surrounding fence and the migrants could attempt to escape. Because of constant overcrowding one of the two toilets is continuously clogged, and detainees have to queue up, waiting for more than 20 minutes. Both toilets are de- 100 D.F. from Turkey; December 19, 2010 – Soufli 101 S.A. from Iraq; December 19, 2010 – Soufli scribed as extremely dirty and they have no doors, just plastic covers. Only exceptionally is there hot water in the two showers. »I did not wash myself since I was arrested, because the water is cold like ice!«101 With the lack of privacy and the presence of men close to the bathrooms, the women felt uncomfortable and exposed in this location. Thus, many tried to avoid cleaning themselves or their clothes. The garbage is not collected and thrown away on a daily basis. It is kept in cardboard boxes and emptied only occasionally. The cell is very dark. There is only one lamp for all rooms. Most often, the electric bulb is not replaced when broken. Food is mostly insufficient and inadequate. Detainees reported that in arbitrary disciplinary measures they were deprived of making phone calls. There is one card-phone situated outside of the cell entrance. The detainees have to queue up and hold the phone through the bars while talking. »After the escape (in February 2011), the police took the phone away and said the director needs it. There is only one phone and that one they removed for one week. Sometimes it does not work anyway. There are always excuses why we cannot use it.«102 The degrading and inhuman detention conditions in Soufli have pushed many detainees into a life threatening state of desperation as H.H. reported when released: »There was a man from Georgia who was detained together with us. He had stayed more than six months in Soufli. One day he tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat with a razor … 102 H.H. from Iran and H.F. from Iraq; February 28, 2011 – Soufli