-7I. INTRODUCTION A. Dates of the visits and composition of the delegations 1. In pursuance of Article 7 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”), two delegations of the CPT carried out visits to Greece from 13 to 18 April and 19 to 25 July 2016. Both visits were considered by the Committee “to be required in the circumstances” (cf. Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Convention). 2. The April 2016 visit was carried out by two members of the CPT, Anton Van Kalmthout (Head of delegation) and Julia Kozma. They were supported by Sebastian Rietz of the CPT’s Secretariat and assisted by Alan Mitchell, general medical practitioner at Dungavel House Immigration removal Centre, Scotland, United Kingdom (expert). Jeroen Schokkenbroek, Executive Secretary, attended the talks with the Greek authorities at the end of the visit. The July 2016 visit was conducted by two members of the CPT, Anton Van Kalmthout (Head of delegation) and Ilvija Pūce. They were supported by Hugh Chetwynd, Head of Division, and Sebastian Rietz of the Committee’s Secretariat and assisted by Alan Mitchell (expert). 3. For a list of the places visited by the CPT’s delegations during the two visits see Appendix I. B. Context of the visits 4. In 2015, an unprecedented number of foreign nationals arrived in Greece, most of them crossing by boat from Turkey. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 850,000 refugees and migrants mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq – almost half of them being women and children – reached Greek shores during that year, with a peak in October when more than 210,000 persons arrived by sea. The large majority transited through Greece and continued their journey to other European countries. Between January and March 2016, numbers remained high with more than 150,000 new arrivals on the Aegean Islands. To stem the flow of refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants, the European Union member States and institutions agreed in 2015 to implement the so-called “hotspot” approach to managing migration,1 aimed at swiftly identifying, registering and properly processing new arrivals in designated centres at key arrival points, both in Greece and Italy. Five “hotspots” were identified by the Greek authorities on the Aegean Islands and progressively started operating in late 2015 and early 2016.2 In February 2016, the authorities of Croatia, Serbia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” closed their borders thus resulting in a large number of foreign nationals being stranded in mainland Greece. 1 2 See notably: European Parliament, On the frontline: the hotspot approach to managing migration, Study, 2016, at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/556942/IPOL_STU(2016)556942_EN.pdf. These are Moria “hotspot” on the island of Lesvos, VIAL “hotspot” on the island of Chios, Vathi “hotspot” on the island of Samos, Lepida “hotspot” on the island of Leros and Pyli “hotspot” on the island of Kos.