22 FRONTIER EUROPE Human rights abuses on Greece’s border with Turkey to vulnerable groups. Under the new law arrivals can be held in initial reception centres for up to 25 days. The first initial reception centre began operating in March 2013 in Fylakio. At the time of Amnesty International’s visit in April 2013, this first centre was only receiving individuals apprehended after it became operational and only those arrested in the Evros region. Many vulnerable individuals including unaccompanied children apprehended during sweep operations elsewhere were therefore directly sent to detention facilities rather than being first screened in the Initial Reception Centre in Fylakio. At the time of Amnesty International’s visit, there was no other initial reception centre in Greece apart from the one in Fylakio, including the islands where most arrivals were taking place and more were expected. The Director of the Initial Reception Service responded to an Amnesty International query stating that the Service expects mobile units to be operational on the islands of Chios and Samos by the end of June at the latest.66 In several facilities such as Tychero, Fylakio [immigration detention centre] and Komotini, where adults were being held, Amnesty International was approached by young detainees who said that they were children. Some of them said that they were ignored by the detention authorities when they told the authorities that they were under 18; others reported that they were judged to be adults after an age assessment that took into consideration only physical examinations such as dental examination or radiological tests looking at bone development without assessing psychological and developmental factors. 67 Four young boys from Afghanistan were being held at the Soufli Border Guard Station for more than three months already at the time of Amnesty International’s visit. They claimed they were under 18 and were therefore held in a cell separate from adults. Authorities told Amnesty International that a shelter space was finally found for the boy whose claimed age was confirmed and he would be transferred there soon. However, one of them was determined to be over 18 as a result of medical tests and the other two were still waiting for their age test results. They shared a small cell without much space to walk around. Although the facility had a fenced yard, the boys said that they were not able to go out daily to get fresh air or exercise because the weather had been cold. Those identified as children remained detained in conditions unsuitable for children until a space was found for them in a shelter. In May 2013, Amnesty International was told by UN Refugee Agency in Greece that already limited shelter space for children was further strained for want of funding to cover the shelters’ operational costs.68 The lack of funding was a result of gaps in the distribution of EU funding by the Greek government to the organizations running the shelters. In May 2013, this reportedly led some shelters such as Agiassos on the island of Lesvos to stop receiving newly-arrived children.69 Amnesty International interviewed two unaccompanied boys aged 16 and 17 held in the Iasmos police station. They were previously detained at the Komotini Immigration Detention Centre, but were transferred to Iasmos to be separated from adult detainees, when they were eventually documented as children. H. from Afghanistan was arrested in a sweep operation in Athens in August 2012. He explained to Amnesty International that he repeatedly told the authorities that he was a minor but had been ignored. He was finally documented as a minor after being detained alongside adults for more than eight months following the intervention of Amnesty International July 2013 Index: 25/008/2013