9. Inadequate healthcare
Limited access to adequate medical treatment is endemic in the PRDC. Every participant interviewed for
this report reported significant issues with access to healthcare. During our time on Kos, almost every one of
our clients in detention has disclosed concerns about their health and reported multiple barriers to accessing
medical care in detention. In response to frequent concerns from clients about their medical conditions,
lawyers from Equal Rights met with the only doctor in the PRDC on 13 July 2021. During that meeting we
learned that the medical staff at the PRDC consisted of the following employees:
• 1 doctor
• 2 nurses
• 1 social worker
• 1 psychologist
• 1 Sorani interpreter (who speaks some, limited, Arabic)
According to the doctor, these health care professionals were meeting the medical needs of approximately
180 individuals. The doctor also informed us that he worked until 14:00 every day and was able to see 12-20
people per day. He also stated that he and the other medical staff at times relied on other people detained in
the PRDC to translate because of a lack of interpreters. Outside of the medical staff in the PRDC, the doctor
also confirmed that Kos is lacking any specialists in the following fields:
• Neurology
• Dentistry
• Psychiatry
Regarding a psychiatrist on the island, the doctor stated that there are only two private psychiatrists and that
he had reached out to both personally, but they refused to take patients referred from the PRDC. Finally, the
doctor expressed significant concern about the lack of medical resources both inside the PRDC and on Kos in
general. He was particularly concerned about the lack of psychological and neurological treatment. He stated
that, in general, the police are slow to respond to people’s requests for medical attention or follow up on his
concerns regarding certain patients’ health. In late July, the doctor resigned from his post at the PRDC and
had not been replaced by the time this report was published in November 2021.
From our interviews with people detained in the PRDC, we have identified five main sub-themes from
these testimonies – a lack of knowledge regarding the healthcare services available to persons in detention,
deterrence from and long waiting times for obtaining medical attention, dismissiveness by healthcare
professionals, a lack of interpreters at medical services, and inaccessible and unaffordable private healthcare
services – which are explored in-depth below.
a. Lack of knowledge regarding services available
We have observed that detained persons often lack knowledge regarding healthcare services available to them
in the PRDC. Kamal informed us that he did not understand who to approach for help, stating: “I don’t know
with whom I should communicate to seek this [medical] help or service. I’m just helpless to be honest”. Meanwhile, Yves
expressed confusion over the availability of a psychologist in detention, stating: “I haven’t seen the psychologist
- there isn’t a psychologist, I asked for one and I didn’t see one”. Emmanuel expressed additional confusion over his
53
DETENTION OF MIGRANTS ON THE ISLAND OF KOS
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