detained women, police officers and administrative staff and spend nearly two months doing participant observation. After that first meeting, I was chaperoned by a police officer who gave me a tour of the centre. I was initially intimidated by the enormity of the building and its labyrinthine interior. ‘This is a very different kind of place’ clarified the officer. ‘This is not a detention centre’ he continued, ‘it is a special holding facility for migrants. That’s the official name and that’s what we offer here’ (Fieldnotes, Petrou Ralli detention centre, 2011). When we reached the second floor, where the detention part is situated (the women’s section is on the third floor connected through an internal staircase), the officer stopped and asked me hesitantly whether I was ready for the experience. I nodded and he knocked on the metal door. The light green and yellow colour on the walls, the dirty floors, the stench of urine on the men’s floor, the noise of doors banging or as officers shouted orders, and the stares of the women behind bars when I was walking through their area, made me feel extremely uncomfortable about my presence there as an uninvited observer. Figure 5: The visiting area in the Petrou Ralli pre-removal detention centre 47