- 36 - pre-departure centres (see below) which will hold irregular migrants - including asylum seekers whose requests for international protection have been rejected32 - for whom preparations are being made to return them to their country of origin. - returns policy, notably organising voluntary and forced returns and implementing the readmission agreement with Turkey. The CPT would like to receive an update on the implementation of the Action Plan. In particular, it would like to be informed about the operation to date of the first reception centre in Filakio: average occupancy, length of detention and an indication of where the persons went once they left the centre. The delegation also met several Syrian nationals who continued to be detained, at the time of the visit, both in police and border guard stations as well as in pre-departure centres. Some of them had already been detained for periods of up to several months, despite the fact that many were likely to be in need of international protection and could not be returned in application of the nonrefoulement principle.33 In light of the armed conflict in Syria and the evident inability to return Syrians to their country of origin, the CPT would like to be informed as to the reasons for Syrian nationals to be detained in immigration detention centres for periods of up to several months, as was the case at the time of the visit. c. pre-departure centres and holding facilities visited 61. As part of the above–mentioned Action Plan, the Greek authorities have established a number of immigration detention centres, known as pre-departure centres. At the time of the 2013 visit, five pre-departure centres were operating with a combined capacity to accommodate 4,975 persons and the plan was to establish four additional centres and to increase the number of available places to 10,000. Further, it was proposed to open two Special Aliens detention centres on the islands of Chios and Samos. The establishment of the pre-departure centres is a step in the right direction towards creating an immigration detention estate that caters to the specific requirements of the irregular migrant detainee population. Nevertheless, the operation of the centres is still based on a security approach, with detainees treated in many respects as criminal suspects. The Internal Operating Regulations for Alien Detention facilities of 10 March 2013 promulgated as a Decision of the Chief of the Hellenic Police are too restrictive and should be revised.34 32 33 34 The CPT’s delegation also met a considerable number of persons in the pre-departure centres visited who had applied for asylum following their detention in a centre. Recently, UNHCR recommended that States temporarily suspend the forcible return of Syrian nationals and those habitually residing in Syria to Syria or its neighbouring countries. The organisation also called upon the Greek authorities not to order the administrative detention for Syrians and suspend the expulsion orders or return decisions without delay. See UNHCR Greece, Syrians in Greece: Protection Considerations and UNHCR Recommendations, 17 April 2013. For example, the prohibition of ownership and use of mobile phones and any other electronic device by the detainees should be reviewed. Further, provision should be made for purposeful activities and access to NGOs promoted.