ask for asylum, he had not seen a copy of the UNHCR publication for asylum seekers, and he never met an interpreter: When I was arrested in Greece, I spent two nights at the airport detention center. I couldn’t communicate with the Greek police. Then I spent two months in Petrou Ralli.… When I was released from jail I was given a deportation order for three months. I couldn’t ask for asylum in Petrou Ralli. I never had the opportunity to speak to an interpreter to make an asylum application.… I had no information. The police didn’t give me any information. There was no interpreter. I had no idea how long I would be detained.122 Some children manage to contact service-providing NGOs for information about and help to access the asylum procedure in Greece, and their rights as asylum seekers.123 Some children only managed to enter the police building to physically file an asylum application after the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) issued them a letter addressed to authorities at Petrou Ralli station. Seventeen-year-old Fahim F. told us: “I went three or four times to the police station. I stayed in line for two or three hours. Then GCR gave me a letter and I entered.” Authorities confirmed that they accept asylum applications from children who are referred to them by NGOs any day of the week. Even if this is the case, not all children are able to seek the help of GCR or other NGO legal service providers, and such a system does not guarantee access to asylum procedures. Access is further hampered by the fact that most of the children interviewed were illiterate or possessed insufficient reading ability to understand printed materials about asylum that are sometimes available in detention centers. None of the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch had been orally informed by the police about their right to seek asylum, although police are instructed to do so.124 122 Human Rights Watch interview with Ali N. (exact date and location withheld). 123 These NGOs include the Greek Council for Refugees, the Ecumenical Refugee Program, and the Hellenic Red Cross. 124 Ministry of Interior Circular, Prot. No. 5401/ 1 – 261100, February 23, 2008, section 3. Left to Survive 44