1. Introduction TThis report describes the second phase of a project[1] on human rights-based monitoring of immigration detention sites at Europe’s borders, focusing on Turkey and Greece. The project initially encompassed four countries that have seen especially high levels of migration since 2015: Greece, Turkey, Italy and Hungary. The first three are countries of first arrival, while Hungary was examined as a place of onward migration. In 2016-17, the research team visited each of the countries, was granted access to detention centres in Greece and Hungary, and interviewed staff from National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs), NGOs, academics and international organisations that were involved in detention in all countries. The report on that stage of the research was published in 2018 (Bhui, Bosworth and Fili 2018). The challenging political and migration policy context in Turkey and Greece was explored in some depth, and little had changed by the time of our return visits. We do not therefore repeat that commentary here[2]. The principal responsibility for monitoring conditions in detention falls to the National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs), which were established pursuant to the 2002 UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT). If its provisions are respected, OPCAT assures functional independence for NPMs. They should have a separate, guaranteed budget, and be able to appoint their own staff. They should be able to make recommendations and comment on legislation. States must grant them access to the information necessary to perform their role, such as the numbers of people detained and their locations, local establishment data that can help NPMs to judge how detainees are being treated, and unhindered, private access to detainees. If these criteria are fully adhered to, NPMs can provide a powerful safeguard. A major strength is their ability to put into the public domain authoritative, factual information, which can be used by anyone, including NGOs and academics. The core research team provided a combination of practical and academic expertise in immigration detention and monitoring. It included a UK-based prison and immigration detention centre inspector, a UK-based professor of criminology, and a Greece-based immigration detention researcher who was formerly a member of an NGO that offered services inside detention centres[3]. Members of the team visited detention facilities in both countries and spent a considerable amount of time with the NPMs. They also delivered training and convened a workshop on detention monitoring[4]. As part of the project, Greek and Turkish detention monitors attended inspections in England conducted by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, which is part of the UK NPM, to support joint learning and collaboration between monitoring bodies. [1] Funded by an Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Grant, from the University of Oxford, ‘Safeguarding Human Rights in Detention: ESRC IAA 1710-KEA-320’. [2] While it is not the subject of this report, we note, with some concern, the anti-migrant sentiment that is increasingly evident in Hungary, the undermining of NGOs such as the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the lack of transparency about the detention system or process. See UN News, ‘Politicization of migrant ‘crisis’ in Hungary making thε σscapegoats, independent UN human rights expert warns’. Last accessed 22.7.19 [3] Funded by the Open Society Foundations, under Grant Number OR2018-44698. [4] Respectively, Dr Hindpal Singh Bhui (This report is written in a personal capacity), Professor Mary Bosworth and Ms Andriani Fili. We were also assisted by Ms Gavriella Morris, formerly Policy Officer at HMI Prisons. 01