- 18 36. The CPT also recommends that immediate steps be taken to: - keep the period of time spent by persons detained for deportation in police directorates/stations to the absolute minimum. Whenever it becomes clear that the deportation procedure in respect of a foreign national is going to take longer than a week, the person concerned should be transferred to a detention facility specifically designed for holding illegal aliens; - ensure that the official capacities of the cells in police directorates/stations are observed, and that no detainees are obliged to sleep in the corridors of detention facilities. The CPT also recommends that the Greek authorities explore the possibility of assigning female officers to police detention facilities where women are held. c. transfer centres 37. Piraeus Transfer Centre for prisoners was visited by the CPT in 1993 and 1997. In the reports on both of these visits, the CPT had recommended that the facility be extensively renovated without delay and that, if such a renovation proved to be unfeasible, the existing premises be taken out of service and the Centre relocated elsewhere in a place offering better conditions of detention. The delegation which carried out the 1999 visit did not observe any changes: the establishment was as dirty and neglected as described in the previous reports. There were 11 persons present at the time of the visit, the average stay said to be three days. However, conditions in the Centre were unacceptable even for such short stays. In their letter of 1 February 2000, the Greek authorities indicated that the Piraeus Transfer Centre is “indeed inadequate as it is both antiquated and too small. The Ministry of Public Order considers the building beyond repair and is therefore looking for another building. Until a new facility is found, old blankets and mattresses, as well as the worn-out electrical and plumbing systems have been replaced. The building has been repainted and constant efforts are being made for the improvement of the detention conditions. Disinfecting is also carried out on a regular basis.” The CPT recommends that urgent action be taken to relocate Piraeus Transfer Centre for prisoners to a place offering better conditions of detention. 38. Athens Transfer Centre for prisoners received a CPT visit in 1993, and was the subject of a number of recommendations in the subsequent report. Unfortunately, hardly anything had changed in the meantime. The official capacity remained set at 42, and the facility could clearly become very overcrowded. The cells were extremely dirty and poorly ventilated, the walls had not been painted for years, the toilets could not be flushed, there was a pervasive and disagreeable smell around the establishment, and there was no supply of hot water. In contrast to 1993, detainees were being provided with mattresses; however, they were in an extremely poor condition. Many detainees showed the delegation marks from parasite bites.