Lastly, clients have also frequently reported to us that they have been told inaccurate information by the police in detention. On numerous occasions, when we have sent our legal authorization forms to the PRDC to be signed by clients prior to taking on their cases, they have told us that police asked them whether they had any family in Europe, as this could be useful for their cases, and told them to pass their families’ details to their lawyers, even though they were all rejected asylum seekers. In late June and early July, at least three of our clients were told this. They later asked us how they could legally reunite with various family members in Europe and provided us with their family members’ contact details. We also received a call from one client’s mother in Belgium. We had to explain to our clients and their families that family reunification under the Dublin Regulation is only available for certain forms of familial relationships, including married couples, dependent children and parents, and relationships between adults with high support needs and their caretakers, and that unfortunately, none of them were eligible for this procedure. Inaccurate information, however well-intentioned it might be, can therefore again raise clients’ hopes, and complicates our ability to gain and maintain their trust. ii. Access to Legal Services aa. Generally The number of lawyers working on Kos who specialise in asylum and refugee law is extremely limited. At the time of this report’s publication, there were three legal NGOs operating on the island – Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), METAdrasi, and Equal Rights. There are also several private lawyers on the island who undertake asylum cases for a fee. The number of lawyers on the island is not sufficient to meet the legal needs for all of the persons detained in the Kos PRDC. Equal Rights frequently has to turn cases away because of a lack of capacity, and the same is true of the other NGOs. In particular, it can be hard for people detained at the PRDC to find lawyers willing to undertake their detention case as opposed to their asylum cases. All three NGOs will submit legal remedies against detention, however all three also generally prioritise asylum cases when making decisions about capacity. In its response to Equal Rights, UNHCR also raised concerns that “effective access of detainees to administrative and judicial remedies against their detention and deportation decisions is seriously challenged by the lack of adequate provision of information to the detainees in a language they understand and the lack of interpretation services in detention facilities. Furthermore, no legal-aid scheme has yet been established by the Greek authorities for the provision of free legal assistance and representation to detainees as foreseen by article 9(6) of the recast Reception Conditions Directive”. Even if a person is able to find a lawyer to take over her case, Equal Rights has observed multiple issues arise with regards to detained persons’ access to legal services during our time on Kos. Making detained persons aware of our services has proven challenging. As a new organisation on Kos, we are still building our local profile, only slowly becoming known to asylum seekers on the island. As we have only restricted access to the detention centre, we have been unable to conduct any outreach services in detention. New clients are therefore referred to us by other legal organisations and the UNHCR. Detained persons may also obtain our details from their own contacts, or from each other in detention. Ismail learned of our organisation from his sister in Germany, while Zain told us that local lawyers’ contact details are circulated in detention: “It’s around one or two lawyers that most of the people in detention talk about, it’s not a lot of choices. Everyone knows their numbers”. Joud mentioned he obtained our details from “a guy who was in the open hotspot, and he was detained, and he had your number so I took it from him”. However, it is clear to us that not everyone in detention is aware of the legal services available on the island: many have contacted us at later stages of their procedure, explaining that they had only recently received our details. Faiza told us that when she first arrived in detention, she was not made aware of legal services on the island. She told us that she, like others she knew in detention, was first 26 DETENTION OF MIGRANTS ON THE ISLAND OF KOS