In all the PDRCs and special holding facilities, there was a total lack of any purposeful or recreational activities on offer. Further, the centres were not staffed with suitably qualified personnel. In the light of the findings, the CPT calls on the Greek authorities to reform their immigration detention system with a view to ensuring that foreign nationals deprived of their liberty are held in suitable premises, offering material conditions and a regime appropriate to their legal situation and staffed with suitably qualified personnel. The role of the custodial staff should be enhanced and a comprehensive plan for staff training developed. Healthcare services often remained insufficient to meet the needs of the persons detained and most of the concerns previously raised by the Committee persisted, such as the lack of medical screening upon arrival and insufficient numbers of healthcare staff. The situation at Corinth PRDC was particularly catastrophic, where, for example, a person had been diagnosed with open tuberculosis and the infectious disease had spread among a great part of the detained population while another person had died due to severe pneumonia without it having been identified at an early stage. The new EU-funded “Closed Controlled Access Centres” (CCACs) on the Aegean Islands have the potential to offer better living conditions for migrants and asylum seekers for periods of up to a few months. However, they face significant shortcomings, and the basic reception and protection needs of applicants for international protection are often not met. In the CPT’s view, the excessive security and unnecessary barbed wire fencing make the CCACs unsuitable for accommodating children and persons in a vulnerable situation. Moreover, when the number of foreign nationals arriving on the islands increases, the systems break down quickly and many persons find themselves being subjected to treatment which could be described as inhuman and degrading. This was the situation found by the CPT delegation during the visit, notably at the Kos and Samos CCACs. The delegation did not receive any recent allegations of ill-treatment of foreign nationals by police or private security staff in any of the CCACs or the Fylakio Reception and Identification Centre (RIC). However, some allegations of abusive language by private security staff were received. Further, a few allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment among foreign nationals were received in the CCACs visited. Steps should be taken to prevent violence among residents of the CCACs. At the time of the visit, a great number of persons remained deprived of their liberty in the CCACs without benefiting from the legal safeguards related to detention. The delegation gathered evidence to show that the legal timeframes and provisions on detention were not being respected, and there is a need to tighten up the procedures regulating the initial 25 days of detention. Further, access to a lawyer was problematic and the lack of interpreters was a real challenge at all CCACs visited. The living conditions at the CCACs visited were poor at the time of the visit, notably due to overcrowding, and the conditions of detention for large numbers of persons met at Kos CCAC could only be described as inhuman and degrading. For instance, in some accommodation areas, up to eight persons were accommodated in 10 m2 rooms and many persons had to sleep on the floor without even a mattress. The former RIC area had been temporarily re-opened even though it was unfit for human habitation and most containers had no functioning sanitary facilities and no electricity. Further, there was a lack of hygiene and cleaning products, as well as non-food items (including beds mattresses, and blankets, as well as winter clothing and shoes) offered to foreign nationals. The totally chaotic and undignified way in which food was distributed at Samos CCAC, with hundreds of persons jostling to get their portion of food, should also be reviewed. The Greek authorities should ensure that all persons who are detained in a CCAC or RIC are offered decent living conditions. At both the Kos and Samos centres, unaccompanied and separated children were held in a dedicated section surrounded by high mesh fences topped with rolls of barbed wire. The delegation received many complaints from these children about the lack of activities, no provision of adequate clothing and too little food, as well as insufficient psycho-social support and legal advice. The Kos centre in particular the girls reported that they felt unsafe. In line with the principle of the “best interests of the child”, the Greek authorities should end the detention of unaccompanied and separated children in the CCACs. 4