174117
Testimony- Testimony collected by
- Border Violence Monitoring Network
- Date and location recorded
- Thessaloniki, Northern Greece, October 2025
- Detention centre related
- Detention Centre Country
- Greece
- Duration of detention
- 2 - 4 months
- Nationality
- Egypt
- Age
- 23
- Gender
- Male
- Type of arrest
- Mass/sweep
- Why was the respondent detained?
- Illegal entry
- Detained before?
- No
- Was the respondent informed of the duration of detention?
- No
- Did the respondent experience any violence?
- Witnessed
- Type of violence experienced
- Hate speech
- Physical violence
- Was the respondent forced to sign documents?
- Yes
- Did the respondent have access to translation?
- Yes
- Did the respondent have access to medical aid?
- No
- Did the respondent have access to NGOs?
- Yes, upon visit
- Did the respondent have access to legal support?
- No
- Did the respondent apply for asylum?
- No, but expressed
- Number detained in cell
- 6
- Number detainees sharing WC
- 10+
- Hygiene rating
- Very poor
- Type of cell
- Isobox/container, shared
- Had access to phone?
- Yes, own
- Ventilation
- None
- Meal quality
- Very poor
- Had access to outdoor space?
- Yes, limited space
- Narrative
The respondent is a 23-year old Egyptian national who was intercepted at sea while travelling to Greece in July 2025. The respondent was transferred to Amygdaleza PRDC where upon arrival his personal information, fingerprints and photo were reportedly collected by the authorities, and he was required to sign two documents, in Greek and Arabic, which according to him concerned a three-month detention he was subject to. The respondent described being taken to a container which could accommodate 6 people, with no ventilation or heating system. The respondent described his container as a very dirty “house of insects”. He reported that products to clean the place were not provided to him, and that no staff came to clean the facility, except for the collection of the trash. Products for personal hygiene were reportedly distributed to him only once, upon arrival, and never renewed. The respondent described the bathrooms, located outside of the containers, as dirty, with very limited privacy as not all toilets had doors. The respondent explained that he was left 70 days with the same clothes as none had been distributed to him at the time of the testimony collection. Blankets had reportedly not been distributed either, forcing those who were detained last to request them from people held for longer. The respondent reported that the food provided in the PRDC was insufficient and that “some of it is not edible”. His impression was that no medical staff were present in the facility and the police officers were providing people with paracetamol in extreme cases. He added that a doctor visited the facility once on his first day of detention, but saw patients only for a check-up and did not provide people with any kind of diagnosis or treatment. The respondent reported that he did not receive any kind of legal support either, and was ignored by the authorities when he was requesting for information on asylum procedures. He added that the authorities were “very racist” and “very hostile”, reportedly using physical violence on a regular basis in response to detainees asking for their rights to be respected, always outside of the CCTV cameras’ field of vision. Threats of deportation from police were also reported.