- 51 For example, at the Xanthi centre, detained persons could receive visitors in a room in the
administrative building every day. By contrast, at the Amygdaleza centre, where a lot of detained
persons did receive visitors due to the easy access from Athens, there were no facilities in place;
detained persons had to meet with their visitors through the fencing enclosing their compound.
The CPT recommends that appropriate visiting facilities be set up in all immigration
detention centres enabling detained persons to meet with their visitors in an amenable and
open setting (e.g. around a table) with an area set aside for children who visit. Immediate
steps should be taken to establish a proper visiting area at the Amygdaleza pre-departure
centre.
92.
For most detained irregular migrants, the most important means for maintaining contact with
the outside world was the telephone. All the centres and holding facilities did possess card phones;
however, the cards were considered expensive especially as most persons had families in another
continent. The rules governing detention by the Hellenic Police do not permit detained persons to
possess a mobile phone. However, as the CPT has reiterated on many occasions, the conditions of
detention for irregular migrants should be different from those of criminal suspects or prisoners. In
terms of communicating with the outside world, the CPT’s delegation received by far the fewest
complaints in those centres which, notwithstanding the above regulations, permitted detained
persons to keep their mobile phones (i.e. Paranesti and Xanthi centres). The CPT can see no reason
why detained persons should not be permitted to keep their mobile phones; as the experience of the
Xanthi centre shows, concerns about theft and disputes over mobile phones have proved unfounded.
The CPT recommends that the Greek authorities permit persons detained in
immigration detention centres to retain their mobile phones and that the relevant regulations
be amended accordingly.
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