32 “I tried to ask the police here [regarding the reasons that someone detained in the PRDC will be for detention], but no one could give me an answer. deported was close to zero during the entire I wanted to clarify with the police.” Ali reiterated, period, leading to unnecessary anxiety and “The police told me that we only are here for your mental distress among participants. detention and that we do not care about your asylum procedure. Our task is security only.” Finally, some participants had been pushed backed during earlier attempts to arrive to The lack of clear information about the reasons Greece, and seemingly equated their possible behind their detention resulted in some deportation with they type of illegal return they participants reporting a genuine fear of being had previously experienced. Ali confirmed this deported or pushed back, even if they were still sentiment: “I was so afraid to return. The return in the asylum procedure and so could not be to Turkey is so scary because they put you in a boat legally deported at that point. In particular, at back in the water.”57 least four deportation. participants reported fearing 56 As Jamal, a registered asylum seeker, explained, “I thought that I was going to be deported because they gave us a small paper in Arabic that said this is for the individuals who are to be expelled. I was thinking this is a place where they will keep us to deport us. I didn’t understand at all why I was in detention or what procedures were taking place.” For rejected asylum seekers who were at risk of deportation, the fear and confusion was equally high. For example, Muneer was afraid of being deported to Turkey. He explained: “We were told that we were rejected a second time [in the asylum procedure], and we will be handed over to the police. The police can do whatever they want and it’s possible for us to be deported to Turkey or do something else.” Although Greece has the right to deport rejected asylum seekers under some circumstances, as already reported here very few returns have taken place from the Kos PRDC in the past five years and none to Türkiye since March 2020. Therefore, the likelihood 3. Lack of Information on Legal Remedies and Legal Aid In addition to a lack of information regarding their detention procedure or receiving misinformation from police, participants also shared their concerns over a lack of information on how to access legal aid and the difficulty in obtaining legal services. Specifically, at least six participants reported that they did not ask the police for assistance for various reasons. Regarding the six individuals who did not ask the police for a lawyer, their reasons ranged from not knowing one could ask for a lawyer including: stated difficulty in communication with police due to a lack of interpretation, to a perception the police would not be helpful or dismissive, to not knowing how to frame one’s request for a lawyer, to a lack of trust in lawyers. As Faris explained, “I did not ask the police to see a lawyer because this is the first time I am in this situation, so I didn’t know that you could get a lawyer until others told me.” In Idris’ case, he shared, “The One of the four participants referred to here reported fearing that he would be pushed back while he was detained at the local police station in Kos town. 57 Although not in the scope of our interviews, many of our clients self-report having experienced pushbacks before they arrive in Greece. Because of their experience being pushed back, participants like Ali equated being officially deported after having gone through the asylum procedure and being rejected with being unlawfully pushed back to Turkey. 56 ‘Still detained and forgotten’ – Update on Detention Policies, Practices, and Conditions on Kos 2023/24