735 Cheliotis then, Tochilovsky swiftly added, ‘you take off your 3D glasses and find yourself in a different world’, where any positive legislative amendments are practically ignored, administrative detention conditions may be worse than those found in conventional prisons, and human rights violations continue unabated (Associated Press, 31 January 2013; IPS, 17 March 2013; see also UNHCHR, 31 January 2013). The Greek state’s reactions to criticisms Overall, and irrespective of the political party in government, the Greek state has reacted to domestic and international pressures by employing an array of rhetorical defence mechanisms, some of which substantively contradict one another.6 In their direct official responses to CPT reports, for example, Greek state authorities have essentially denied critical findings by stating that unaccompanied children are systematically detained separately from adults (yet with the important proviso of space availability); that immigrant detainees are given unrestricted access to functioning toilets and showers, as well as to hot water; that they are regularly provided with sufficient food and hygiene products (even though partly thanks to contributions by NGOs); and that they do have available to them legal aid and medical services (if again in part through NGOs). Greek state authorities have additionally tried to absolve themselves of responsibility for any recurrent or remaining problems by pointing to the excessively high numbers of detainees and the high ratio of detainees to staff, which allegedly render the situation inside detention centres particularly difficult to manage, although it is emphasised that ‘formidable’ and ‘enormous’ efforts are made to this effect (see further Government of Greece, 2012). The Greek state has also blamed poor detention conditions on detainees themselves and their protests, for instance by claiming that ‘[t]he detained, in their effort to “blackmail” their immediate release, destroy the [hygienic] installations, break the fountains, stuff the drainages with towels, shoes, etc., the result of which is the dirty water to flow in the toilets and the other spaces’ (Government of Greece, 2012: 9; see further Cheliotis, in progress). Albeit without necessarily addressing critics in a direct manner, Greek state authorities have defended their immigration detention policies and practices through various other rhetorical techniques. Much relevant material can be drawn from a televised interview with the current Minister of Public Order and Citizen Protection, Nikos Dendias, which took place at the detention centre of Amygdaleza in late 2012.7 During the interview, for example, Dendias explained in no uncertain terms that administrative detention pending deportation forms part of a wider strategy of deterrence that seeks to make Greece an ‘unfriendly destination’ for those considering entering or staying in the country without papers. The minister elaborated this point by drawing a comparison between human trafficking and the tourist industry, a comparison in which he gave Greece anything but its familiar role of the archetypically philoxenous country. The minister’s dialogue with his interviewer is revealing: Minister: The trafficker is, quote, unquote, like a tourist office. He has to persuade the client[.] […] If it is known that Greece is a country that is not at all easy to enter, where if at any rate you enter, the most likely outcome is that they will arrest you Downloaded from euc.sagepub.com at Oxford University Libraries on November 25, 2013