Program, “but in practice the police interviewer often delegates the actual interviewing to an interpreter.”271 Some asylum seekers said that some of the interpreters in the asylum office in Petrou Ralli seem to take over the interviews and seem particularly adversarial. In other cases, the interpreters “coach” the applicants to say that they came for economic reasons. A 16-year-old Afghan boy recounted the role of the interpreter in his asylum interview at Petrou Ralli: The policeman in civilian clothes asked something and the Iranian woman told me I should say I came for a better life. I don’t know whether the police officer said that or not because I didn’t understand him. I told the Iranian woman that I wanted to explain my other problems. At that point the police officer shouted at me and I got scared. I don’t remember what I said after that…. I thought if I said something more the police would kick me out without documents. I was scared. I was then told to step to the side for fingerprints. The Iranian woman said two or three times that I should say I came for a better life. The interview took five minutes.272 Problems with interpreters are particularly acute in the outlying areas. A 31-year–old English-speaking Iraqi who applied for asylum in Samos (and has still not received his red card), said that he would not have been able to seek asylum there if he didn’t speak English. “In Samos, it would be a problem if you only spoke Arabic.”273 Human Rights Watch asked the chief of police for Samos, Mr. Ionnis Kotsampasis, how he was able to find interpreters for asylum seekers on the island. He said, “We don’t have translators, but it is not a problem. Usually in any group there is someone who speaks English, so we make that person the translator.”274 He added that if necessary, there is someone on the island who speaks Arabic and who could translate. 271 Human Rights Watch interview with Pappa, June 2, 2008. 272 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, S-142), Athens, June 4, 2008. 273 Human Rights Watch interview (name withheld, B-29), Samos, May 30, 2008. 274 Human Rights Watch interview with Mr. Ionnis Kotsampasis, chief of police, Samos, May 30, 2008. Stuck in a Revolving Door 100