phone cameras, they also shattered his phone screens, and both phones stopped working. Ismail further explained that phone cameras obtained after arrival in detention also needed to be broken: When he tried to break his camera, his phone screen also shattered, and he therefore ordered another phone, and requested that the camera be broken before delivery so it would be permitted inside the PRDC. However, some asylum seekers manage to retain their cameras. Zain explained that police initially broke his phone’s fingerprint reader, rather than its camera. This was later broken, however, when police eventually realised that he had a functioning camera. Some participants expressed awareness that being discovered with a camera could have serious repercussions. Saeed explained that he had heard that detained persons found with phone cameras would be punished, stating: “I’ve heard they will take him to a prison, in isolation, just alone, and they will keep him for 15 days inside…before I was trying to talk with international organisation that supports refugees and tell them about my conditions in detention, I was really scared they would know and do the same with me, break my phone and take me to isolated jail, prison”. Meanwhile, Faiza, who confirmed that her camera was broken, described an incident where another detained woman, with whom she had had various disagreements, told police that she had a functioning camera, which, she stated, “caused me troubles inside detention and the police were coming every second day to check if I had [a] camera or not”. Participants thus remained fearful of authorities’ influence. Detained persons who have retained their phone cameras can therefore experience anxiety and harbour significant fear of the authorities for doing so. The practice of breaking phone cameras further isolates and causes distress to detainees. Hana told us she cannot video call her family as her camera is broken. Similarly, Afran, who surrendered his phone rather than consenting to have his camera broken, told us he had not been able to see his daughter in Syria for a long time. Lacking access to a camera further complicates’ asylum seekers’ access to vital services. For example, Equal Rights is unable to request photographs of clients’ documents while they are in detention. We are therefore required to arrange in-person meetings to obtain basic information, which is not always possible amid COVID-19 restrictions and our restricted access to the PRDC. Detained persons are also unable to obtain and share video or photo evidence of their living conditions in detention, including with our organisation, which has complicated our efforts to monitor the issues they are experiencing and communicate these to authorities. As we have previously highlighted, to conduct our direct services and reporting work, we are reliant on detained asylum seekers’ testimonies regarding their living conditions, and those of other professionals with access to the PRDC. 3. Inadequate food and water Participants confirmed that detainees are provided meals three times a day. Twenty-four participants, however, reported that the food provided was inadequate in some way: either because the quantities of food and water were insufficient, because it was poor quality, or because it was not suited to their dietary requirements. Nine participants reported the quantities of food provided are insufficient. Zain explained: “The amount of the food is little, we don’t really feel full after eating this food…if it was good food, they make it even smaller, too…the better it is, the less you get”. Kamal told us that that he sometimes goes to sleep hungry due to the insufficient quantities of food provided: “No I don’t receive sufficient food (laughs)…Sometimes I sleep and I’m not really full, it’s not enough all the time…” Messan further reported that detainees received insufficient drinking water and had been told by police to drink tap water – which in Kos, is unsafe to drink – when they ran out: “We only get 1 bottle of 1.5 litres of water every day. If we tell the police that we would like more water, they tell us we should drink the tap water. However, we know that the tap water is not drinkable and could worsen our health”. Efe concurred that the quantity of water provided is insufficient: “They only provide us with one 1.5 litre water bottle per day here which is not enough, especially in summer”. In summary, many of our participants reported that their 47 DETENTION OF MIGRANTS ON THE ISLAND OF KOS