The Xanthi detention centre, opened on 4 August 2012 with a capacity of 480 and is located within the regional police academy. Shortly after it opened, an Afgan national sewed his lips together in protest against the duration of detention. It consists of two double-storey accommodation buildings, each within a secure fenced perimeter, and an administration building. Before that, people arrested in the area were detained at the Xanthi police and border guard station in extremely poor conditions (see CPT reports in 2008 and 2013), which could amount to inhuman or degrading treatment. Despite repeated calls to close the station as it is unfit to accommodate people even for 24 hours, in 2013 it was reported that a migrant who was deemed disruptive at the pre-departure centre had been held for 46 days on his own in a police cell.

At the pre-removal centre, migrants are held in dormitories of four to ten persons. Unlike other detention facilities in the country, in 2013 the rooms were generally in an acceptable state of repair and so were the sanitary facilities. There was provision for a prayer and visitors’ room and detainees were allowed to use their phones. Yet the lack of purposeful activities and limited outdoor space remained a problem here too. In May 2013, some 20 migrants were reported on hunger strike. Efforts by the Director to equip rooms with TVs had materialized in 2016. What is more, detainees had free access to the outdoor space all day long. Nevertheless, detainees expressed concerns about the quality of food, supply of hot water, the lack of medical care (people were referred to the hospital) and information about their legal status due to the lack of interpretation services.

At the end of 2018, there was one doctor, five nurses, two interpreters and one social worker offered by AEMY. Recently the state of repair is a matter of concern. Out of twelve toilets in Xanthi, only two were functional as of March 2018. Detainees often complained about the lack of sufficient hygiene and non-food items, including clothes and shoes, clean mattresses and clean blankets.