18 FRONTIER EUROPE Human rights abuses on Greece’s border with Turkey collected by Amnesty International and interviews with representatives of the Greek authorities responsible for detention of irregular migrants and asylum seekers as well as interviews with lawyers and non-governmental organizations show that less coercive measures are almost never considered before detention.41 Greece’s obligations under EU law42 also require people to be released when deportation cannot be carried out within a reasonable time. However, information provided by detention authorities and detainees in the facilities visited, as well as interviews with lawyers and local non-governmental organizations confirmed that people without any possibility of being returned to their countries of origin, such as Somalia and Eritrea, are held in detention for prolonged periods. “Please, all the responsible authorities (Greece and European Union), discuss and negotiate about our situation, we have been kept enough in detention. - Help us, we have nowhere to go back, we have nowhere to be deported, (if possible, we would choose any 3rd country for deportation)” From a letter handed to the Amnesty International delegation by Eritrean detainees in an immigration detention centre in the Evros region on 14 April 2013 Some migrant detention facilities that Amnesty International visited in Greece did not have interpreters for the most needed languages and migrants said that often they were being used as interpreters for other detainees. Many of those interviewed did not have a clear understanding of their rights in relation to their detention or the asylum system in Greece although the authorities claim that all detainees are advised by the police on their rights and provided information in writing.43 In May 2013, Amnesty International was informed that the Greek Council for Refugees, an NGO which was the only source of free legal aid for asylum seekers in detention in the Evros region had to cease its operations on 30 April 2013 in the region due to lack of funding. 44 Several of the interviewees who had applied for asylum while in detention had withdrawn or wished to withdraw their applications after hearing about the extension of the detention period for asylum seekers in October 2012. During Amnesty International’s visit to the Komotini Immigration Detention Centre on 17 April 2013, the officer responsible for examining asylum claims told Amnesty International that 17 of the detainees in Komotini withdrew their applications before they had their first instance interviews. Indeed, many detainees who wished to lodge asylum applications in detention reported to Amnesty International that they were discouraged from doing so as they believed that they would be held longer in detention while their asylum application was processed. In interviews with Amnesty International the Greek authorities confirmed that asylum seekers would be held in detention until their asylum application had been processed. They stated that this was necessary arguing that the asylum system had previously been abused.45 AITIMA is an NGO providing legal aid to asylum seekers and refugees. They confirmed that the lengthening of the detention period for the asylum seekers to 18 months - in accordance with Presidential Decree 116/2012 - deters refugees from seeking protection while in detention in Greece. AITIMA further informed Amnesty International that at the Corinth Amnesty International July 2013 Index: 25/008/2013