731 Cheliotis extends to particularly vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, seriously ill and elderly individuals, and children. Indeed, the detention of minors itself, whether they be held with their families or unaccompanied, stands in violation of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, of which Greece is a signatory (see further Amnesty International, 2012c; CPT, 2009, 2010, 2012; Human Rights Watch, 2011; Lauth Bacas, 2010; Pro Asyl, 2007, 2012). More specifically, irregular migrants are usually detained in facilities that are neither purpose-built (e.g. former military bases and storage facilities, or border guard station cells designed only for short periods of detention) nor meet basic standards of quality (Pro Asyl, 2007, 2012). Meanwhile, the rising number of detainees in itself has combined with repeated increases in the legal maximum duration of immigration detention to far outstrip the official operational capacity of the immigration detention system in Greece. Snapshot measurements of the population of immigrant detainees in specific border guard stations and detention centres around the country have shown, for example, that the number of detained persons is typically several times greater than what the sites in question can properly accommodate (see, for example, FRA, 2011; Pro Asyl, 2007, 2012). Overcrowding is so high that detainees often have to share beds and sleep in shifts, or otherwise simply use the floor, lying at best on mattresses or sleeping bags provided by NGOs and at worst on cardboard and blankets. At their most extreme, overcrowded conditions render sleeping possible only in a sitting position, or force detainees to lie down next to garbage and in the sewage of toilets (see e.g. Human Rights Watch, 2011; Pro Asyl, 2012). There have also been reports of men, women and unaccompanied children being held together in the same detention space, but also, conversely, of close family members being separated from one another (MSF, 2010a; Pro Asyl, 2007). Other commonly reported problems include lack of ventilation, limited sanitation, unsuitable room temperature and poor hygiene. Regarding temperature in cells, it is often overly cold in the winter on account of problems with the provision of heating (e.g. limited supply of petrol) and a lack of weather-proofed windows and doors, just as it tends to be excessively hot in the summer on account of faulty or lacking air conditioning. Concerning hygiene, access to functioning latrines has frequently been found to be severely limited, with dozens or even hundreds of detainees having to share a single toilet that may also offer no privacy. When there are no latrines in operation, detainees are driven to urinate in bottles or through the bars outside their cells, and are escorted by guards to nearby fields where they can defecate. Serious problems have additionally come to light with regard to access to functioning showers and hot water, whilst provision of basic material necessities, from clothing, toilet paper, soap and shampoo to toothbrushes, toothpaste and towels, is typically extremely deficient (see further CPT, 2009, 2010, 2012; FRA, 2011; Human Rights Watch, 2011; ICJ and ECRE, 2013; Pro Asyl, 2012). Meals are reportedly eaten inside cells, where no tables or chairs tend to be available. In the absence of cleaning services, moreover, detainees are themselves responsible for keeping their cells clean but are given no or insufficient products to this effect, and garbage may be retained in cells until detainees are allowed at the discretion of guards to dispose of it outside (Pro Asyl, 2012). Finally, there have been reports of dysfunctional sewage systems, as a result of which urine and faecal matter spread out over the cell Downloaded from euc.sagepub.com at Oxford University Libraries on November 25, 2013