Seventeen-year-old Awali N. fled war-torn Mogadishu in August 2007 and arrived in Greece in early 2008. He told us that all his family except for his mother had been killed. He was living in an overcrowded and squalid house and struggled to make a living in Greece. He was visibly under mental stress. Parts of his story were confusing and he admitted that he couldn’t concentrate and remember details. He was in a constant sweat and described his mental state as follows: I can’t sleep at night—I’m thinking about my problems. Why are they not doing anything for me in Greece? I can’t sleep because of my dreams and because I’m thinking.… I don’t know where my mother is and whether she’s still alive. I was the only boy left and fled.88 Two brothers, one of them eight years old at the time of the events described, told us that they were released from detention without being transferred to a care center in 2006, and ended up in the hands of a criminal gang who subjected them to severe ill-treatment. This included beatings, food deprivation, and infliction of burns with metal objects. The boys said that they managed to escape their torment after nine days, sought help from the police and were re-arrested. They were taken to the firstinstance asylum interview, which resulted in a denial, without any prior psychological assistance and in circumstances that were clearly intimidating:89 I and my brother did separate interviews. There was an interpreter…. They asked a lot of questions. It lasted for about 20 minutes. They only asked my brother what his name was but nothing-else. He was only eight years old. We both had physical signs of mistreatment—burns of the metal. We showed the scars and injuries to them. At that time I was ok to do the interview and I told them, but my brother was crying all the time.… I also cried during the interview 88 Human Rights Watch interview with Awali N., Athens, May 24, 2008. 89 The two boys were granted refugee status at second instance. Sources close to them told Human Rights Watch that the police were put under great pressure by the media that fully covered the story of these boys. The police were blamed for being partly responsible for their kidnapping, because they released the boys from detention without any assistance. See also Papageorgiu and Dimitropoulou, Unaccompanied Minors Study, footnote 152, and “Illegal detention of five Afghan unaccompanied minors seeking asylum for 45 days in Volos and Athens,” Group of Lawyers for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants, Press Release, http://cm.greekhelsinki.gr/index.php?cid=2854&sec=194 (accessed September 11, 2008). Left to Survive 30