7. In its 2020 visit report, the CPT once again urged the Greek authorities, together with the support of the European Union (EU), to reform their immigration detention system to abide by European values and norms and to ensure that foreign nationals deprived of their liberty are treated humanely and with dignity. The authorities were specifically asked to take action to cope with sudden peaks in the arrival of foreign nationals by establishing facilities that offer basic minimum conditions of detention and which can be brought into service at short notice. 8. In the aftermath of the fire in the Moria Reception and Identification Centre in September 2020, the Greek authorities, with the support of the EU, have started building new multi-purpose reception and identification centres on five Aegean Islands. Successively, from late 2021, the Reception and Identification Centres (RICs) on the islands of Kos, Leros and Samos were closed down and new “Closed Controlled Access Centres” (CCACs) established to accommodate foreign nationals arriving on these islands. The construction of a new centre in the Vastria area on Lesvos is still under discussion and judicial review. 9. In the months from August to October 2023, the number of new arrivals on the islands increased significantly from previous years, with a peak of 11 650 arrivals in September. Therefore, most of the CCACs were overcrowded. Even prior to the increase in the number of arrivals, the CPT received reports that the new centres were facing difficulties in managing their populations and that the reception system was operating at its limits. 10. Further, the CPT has continued to receive consistent and credible allegations of violent informal forcible removals (“pushbacks”) both across the Evros River and in the Aegean Sea, whereby foreign nationals who had been intercepted or apprehended in Greece were informally and forcibly removed back to Türkiye, without regard to their individual circumstances and without considering their international protection needs or assessing the expected treatment in the receiving country. The CPT is yet to be convinced that the allegations of pushbacks of foreign nationals are being effectively investigated. 11. Against this background, the CPT decided to examine for itself the current situation of foreign nationals detained under immigration legislation in Greece. To this end, the CPT delegation visited a range of places of deprivation of liberty, including six of the seven pre-removal detention centres and several police and border guard stations in different regions of the country. It also visited – for the first time – three CCACs on the Aegean Islands of Lesvos, Kos and Samos. A list of the establishments visited by the delegation is set out in Appendix I to the report. C. Consultations held by the delegation and cooperation encountered 12. In the course of the visit, the delegation held meetings with Sofia Voultepsi, Deputy Minister of Migration responsible for Integration, Heracles Moskoff, General Secretary for Vulnerable Individuals and Institutional Protection, Dimitrios Iatridis, General Secretary for Reception of Asylum Seekers, and Dimitrios Mallios, Head of the Aliens and Border Protection Branch of the Hellenic Police, as well as other senior officials responsible for immigration matters from the Hellenic Police, the Hellenic Coast Guard and the Reception and Identification Service. Prior to and during the visit, the delegation also held consultations with Andreas Pottakis, the Greek Ombudsman, representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Médecins Sans Frontières, and other non-governmental organisations active in areas of concern to the CPT. 13. The CPT delegation received generally excellent cooperation during the visit by the Greek authorities at all levels. It enjoyed rapid access to all places of detention it wished to visit, was able to interview in private all persons with whom it wanted to speak and was provided with access to the information required to carry out its task. The Committee wishes to express its appreciation for the assistance provided to its delegation during the visit by the management and staff in the establishments visited, as well as for the support offered by its liaison officers from the Hellenic Police and from the Reception and Identification Service. 7