40 THE DUBLIN II TRAP TRANSFERS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS TO GREECE provide treatment to those whose stay in the country is illegal, and who have no passports. The only exceptions allowed are for children and emergency hospital care. Médecins du Monde, whose clinic is situated in the centre of Athens, told Amnesty International that the clinic has insufficient resources to cope with the numbers of people who seek their help. Therefore they have had to decide not to treat migrants and asylumseekers who do not possess a pink card. In addition, MSF reported one incident where, because of the cost involved, it was not possible for them to buy or gain access through the public hospitals to medical equipment needed for an Afghan asylum-seeker (returned from the UK at the end of 2008 under Dublin II) who had severe mobility difficulties as a result of a problem with his leg.132 However, Amnesty International was also made aware of an unaccompanied minor Afghan asylum-seeker living in a shelter in Crete who was provided with a free transplant operation at a local hospital.133 Many of the asylum-seekers interviewed by physicians of the NGO MOSAIC suffer from depression and despair, feeling that there is no way out of their situation.134 MSF’s mission in Greece has made similar findings. During its research, Amnesty International representatives received a number of complaints about difficulties in accessing health services by Dublin II returnees. K., an Iraqi asylum-seeker returned from the Netherlands in late 2009, was hospitalized upon arrival. He suffered, among other things, from psychological problems that were diagnosed by doctors in the Netherlands. In the meantime, his wife and four children remained in detention at the airport. At the hospital he was allegedly cuffed by his hands and feet to the bed. He did not understand why this was done. He claimed that an interpreter told him on the phone that the doctors tied him up because “he was crazy”. The next morning he was taken to a room where the patients behaved violently or inexplicably. He told Amnesty International representatives that he was examined by a doctor and then released. He joined his family in the detention facility but was not given any medication, nor did he receive another visit from a doctor. He did not have any treatment after his release from the airport. In another case: H., a Somali single mother and asylum-seeker who was returned to Greece from the Netherlands, allegedly had broken a bone in her back as a result of an injury she suffered during the civil war in Somalia. She said that while in the Netherlands, a Dutch doctor told her that she needed an operation. She was returned to Greece before the expected date of the operation. However, once there, a Greek doctor at a public hospital told her that an operation was not necessary, and just gave her some medication. She told Amnesty International that she was in pain and had mobility problems, and said that she “feels that something is wrong”. Amnesty International is particularly concerned about gaps in healthcare provision for torture survivors, a category of asylum-seekers who should receive special treatment under Article 17 of the Reception Conditions Directive. According to Article 20 of PD 220/2007, registered asylum-seekers who are victims of torture, rape or violence should receive free, medical treatment for their trauma in specialized units. This procedure should take place before the asylum interview. In Greece the relevant specialized body for such cases was formerly the Medical Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Amnesty International March 2010 Index: EUR 25/001/2010