residing in the public areas are subjects of constant surveillance, as the CCTV System inside the restaurant operates unceasingly on a 24/7 basis, violating the individual's privacy. 1027 As inter alia noted by the CPT in 20241028: ❖ ‘The […] centres are usually located away from the main urban areas on the islands and are characterised by their imposing security measures. The CCACs, as observed in Kos and Samos, are surrounded by a double security fence topped with rolls of barbed wire, and feature control systems such as turnstiles, magnetic gates, x-ray scanners and two-factor access control (identity and fingerprint) at the entrance. Each accommodation section of the CCAC is also surrounded by a security fence topped with barbed wire and a turnstile identity control system. Private security companies control access to the centre and are responsible for carrying out checks and body searches on all persons wishing to enter or leave the centres. In addition, a CCTV monitoring system has been installed throughout the CCACs, using “smart” software to ensure early warning about any incidents, with images streamed to the Hellenic Police and the Control Centre at the Ministry for Migration and Asylum in Athens.’ ❖ ‘The CPT considers that the use of barbed wire on the multiple perimeter security fences surrounding each section of the CCACs, including those accommodating families, women, children and persons with special needs and vulnerabilities, is excessive and unnecessary, and should be removed.’ ❖ ‘The CCACs have the potential to offer better living conditions for migrants and asylum seekers for periods of up to a few months. However, they face significant shortcomings in legal assistance, healthcare provision, vulnerability assessment and interpretation services, and the basic reception and protection needs of applicants for international protection are often not met. Further, the excessive security and barbed wire fencing make the CCACs unsuitable for accommodating children and persons in a vulnerable situation.’ The Greek National Commission for Ηuman Rights (GNCHR), following a field visit in February 2024 in Samos CCAC, noted the incompatibility of prevailing conditions with the standards foreseen by EU law. Issues identified included overcrowding, single women and single parent families with minor children sleeping on the floor in mixed accommodation with unrelated men; limited access to water and the lack of doctors in the CCAC.1029 Meanwhile, as in previous years, during 2024 infrastructure-related problems continued to persist in the Samos CCAC. As reported by RSA in December 2024, there is still a ‘severe shortage of running and drinking water, despite the systems reported by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum regarding water supply and conservation. […] Since there is no connection to a central water system, water is collected and distributed via tanker trucks connected to the facility’s main supply points.’ Moreover, according to the same report: ‘[t]he conditions of the containers was particularly concerning. Many were filthy, infested with bedbugs and cockroaches, while most beds lacked mattresses. Blankets were seemingly shared among residents, while there were broken plumbing fixtures overflowing with sewage, and blackened, dirty sanitary facilities (toilets, sinks, and showers). This situation was evident even in sectors housing families and vulnerable populations, who reportedly live in better conditions’.1030 As regards Lesvos, per a 2024 report by the NGO Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid: “[…] more and more people are being housed in exposed areas of the camp, and in so-called Refugee Housing Units (RHUs), effectively plastic houses, which provide little relief from weather conditions. […] people living in the camp do not have adequate blankets to be sheltered from the cold. The Greek authorities have run out of 1027 1028 1029 1030 RSA, What is happening today in the refugee structures on the Aegean islands, May 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/40ZUNus. CPT, Report to the Greek Government on the visit to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 20 November to 1 December 2023, 12 July 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/e265xv58, paras. 104-106. Also see GCR, Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee, Greece’s State Party Report, 142nd Session, 14 October-7 November 2024, September 2024, pp. 10-14, available at: https://tinyurl.com/js28d9s8. GNCHR, Επιτόπια επίσκεψη ΕΕΔΑ στη Σάμο: Μη σύμφωνες με τα βασικά πρότυπα οι συνθήκες υποδοχής στην ΚΕΔ Σάμου, 9 April 2024, available in Greek at: https://tinyurl.com/mtuuhcar. RSA, Samos, 10 December 2024, available at https://rsaegean.org/el/samos-2024/. 214