Sample case of Pre-RIC detention in Evros
Case of male asylum seeker (national of Pakistan), suffering from acute psychological problems. The applicant was held in detention at a regional PreRemoval Center for three months, prior to his being registered (nationality
screening) at the Fylakio RIC. He’s registration was hastily conducted in less
than a day, leading to an improper medical assessment and a complete lack of
any psychological assessment whatsoever. This was despite his having clear
marks of self-harm (suicide attempts) and his being, as per his statements, a
victim of torture. After this rudimentary registration, he was once more detained, first, at the Fylakio Pre-Removal Center, and then, at that of Xanthi.
Throughout this time, he was never provided nor referred to appropriate medical-psychological assistance, nor was he given the chance to register his asylum request before the competent asylum office.
To be noted, a similar practice has been observed on the island of Kos as well, with
respect to asylum seekers who have been transferred there from other islands. Namely,
following the RIC’s operationalization in June 2016, Kos has in principle functioned
as a central hub for the reception of asylum seekers arriving in a number of other islands
of the Southern Aegean (Crete, Anafi, Karpathos, Kastelorizo, Simi and Kalimnos),
where such a facility (i.e. RIC) is not available. Accordingly, procedure dictates that
following their arrival and apprehension at one of these islands, newcomers are to be
transferred to Kos, where their reception and overall asylum procedures are to commence.
Despite this, however, following the Kos Pre-Removal Center’s operationalization in
late March-early April 2017, there have been cases of new arrivals that have been immediately transferred to and detained there, without previously having undergone registration and identification procedures at the RIC.29 This has been especially the case
for applicants arriving in other islands (e.g. Symi and Kastolerizo), who upon being
transferred to Kos have been arbitrarily sent to the Pre-Removal Center, seemingly for
deportation. One such case regarded an unspecified number of persons transferred from
Symi (after a 15-days period of detention), amongst whom a vulnerable, unaccompanied, minor. Following their transfer to Kos, and despite not being registered nor assessed for any potential vulnerability, instead of the RIC they were sent to the island’s
(Kos) Pre-Removal Center. Similar was the case with another such transfer, albeit this
time from Kastelorizo. The transfer regarded a group of 20 persons, 16 of whom (1
Syrian, the rest Iraqi-Kurds) had expressed their will to apply for asylum at Kastelorizo
–a will that was not properly recorded. For reasons unknown, upon their transfer to Kos
they were divided into two groups, with the first being transferred to the RIC to undergo
reception, and the second to the Pre-Removal Center.
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