Our Findings
Mobile Info Team spoke with 14 people who have been detained in Amygdaleza PRDC in the past. A small
population of women are detained in Amygdaleza, separately from men, however, we only obtained one
interview with an Iranian woman who was held in Amygdaleza PRDC. Therefore, 13 of our interviewees
were male, between the ages of 20 and 47, with some of unknown ages. Despite there being a separate
holding facility for minors, three interviewees specifically reported the presence of alleged minors in
Amygdaleza. The nationalities of people who we interviewed varied, and included people from
Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Morocco and Syria.
Syria
We spoke to 14 men
between the ages of
20-47 years old who
were detained in
Amygdaleza at some
point since 2020
from the following
countries of origin:
Unknown Afghanistan
Morocco
1
1
1
Egypt
1
1
Iraq
Pakistan
3
2
2
2
Iran
Kurdistan
Detainees reported being held in Amygdaleza between just two days and ten months, with an average of five
months. Most detainees were apprehended in Athens on the grounds of being undocumented or having
expired documents - often without being informed of their situation or rights - with four people being
transferred to other PRDCs after their time in Amygdaleza. More than 50% of interviewees who are or have
been detained in Amygdaleza had tried to claim asylum since being in Greece, majoritarily whilst detained in
Amygdaleza PRDC. Only three people we interviewed claimed to have access to counselling, information or
representation from a lawyer, which were organised privately thus paying up to 2,000 euros. Translation issues
were reported, although the situation was significantly better than in Corinth PRDC. One individual described
being unable to claim asylum for four months when he was in Amygdaleza, despite expressing his will multiple
times, and several others pointed to the severe lack of information communicated to them concerning their
legal status, the reasons that they were detained and the period of time that they would be held for. This led to
a considerable number of people communicating the high levels of stress in detention, causing deterioration of
the mental wellbeing of detainees.
Source: Amygdaleza PRDC, MIT respondent
There is one person who had been in
detention for 22 months. So when newly
people arrive in the jail, when we asked how
much time are you here? When we tell them
that one person is in the jail since 22 months,
we had so much fear, tension and depression.
Imran, Amygdaleza
There was none like there was no translator.
There is no lawyer. There is no legal
counsellor.
Azhar, Amygdaleza
17