handcuffed on his way from there to the police station. Finally, Joud described being handcuffed on his journey from Kos airport, where he was arrested, to the police station in town, and again on his way to the PRDC. Other participants either did not mention being handcuffed, or confirmed they were not handcuffed or restrained at any point prior to their arrival. Meanwhile, during a conversation with us in July 2021, Yacouba revealed that detained persons are handcuffed when they go to hospital from the PRDC. Police use of handcuffs on Kos, thus, appears inconsistent. Still, where they are used, handcuffs can be experienced as humiliating and shameful. Joud told us that he felt like a “criminal” both times he was handcuffed. The use of handcuffs can therefore cause unnecessary distress to migrants and asylum seekers and create the impression of a carceral environment (discussed further above). b. Maltreatment by police Seven participants described experiencing some form of maltreatment by police in the PRDC. Hana reported that she and her fellow detainees were frequently verbally insulted by police, stating: “The police says “malaka malaka” and insults us. I lost my dignity and pride in here in detention (cries)”. Saeed reported similar treatment, stating: “whenever I go to the police to ask for medication or help, I can tell that they’re insulting people whenever they want to ask for help or something, you can tell how they speak and the way that they talk with us”. Florence reported that verbal insults from the police were routine, explaining: “Not all of the police, but majority are bad. Because they talk to you rudely”. Meanwhile, Louis told us that the police ransacked detained persons’ belongings, stating: “They would come into the area we were staying, go through our stuff randomly, disorganise everything and left them that way. They would search stuff for drugs”. Faiza repeatedly mentioned she was “afraid” of the police, especially following the incident where she was isolated in a room due to concerns that she had COVID-19. On our visits to the PRDC, Equal Rights has also observed multiple incidents where police have shouted at and verbally abused our clients. On 6 April, after meeting with a client for several hours to prepare him for his first-instance asylum interview, we observed police aggressively handling and checking our client outside the meeting container. On 17 June, one of our lawyers witnessed a police officer aggressively shout at several detainees for reasons that were unclear to her. Based on our interviews and observations, we have concluded that detained persons experience various forms of maltreatment by police which further compounds their fear and distrust of the authorities. c. Broken phone cameras Thirteen participants reported that the police asked them to break their phone cameras, or alternatively, having them broken by police on their arrival in the PRDC. Participants were not directly asked about this subject, and it is likely that far more have had their cameras broken. In Equal Rights’ experience, almost every asylum seeker we have spoken to in the PRDC has had their phone camera broken on arrival. Police appear to routinely present detainees with a choice on arrival: have their phones confiscated or agree to have their cameras broken, so that they cannot take photographs inside the PRDC. Ismail described how he and his fellow detainees were told on arrival to hand over their phones for safekeeping, or keep them, on the condition that they break their phone cameras. Faiza’s story was similar, and she explained: “The police broke the camera. They asked me either if I break camera or police will and if you don’t want to break it then the phone is not allowed to get inside detention…”. Meanwhile, Louis explained that his phone was initially confiscated during his two weeks of quarantine in a seaside facility. On his transfer to the PRDC, his phone was returned, however, his camera was then broken. Similarly, Haroun told us: “When I was quarantined, I did not have any connection with anyone. They took our phones and did not explain anything. Before they transferred me to detention, I had to do an interview for 3-4 hours in the open camp. Afterwards they gave me my phones and said: ‘either we will break the cameras or you cannot have them inside at all’. I agreed to break the camera”. However, when the police broke Haroun’s 46 DETENTION OF MIGRANTS ON THE ISLAND OF KOS