6. Detention and detention centres 37 Released migrants who cannot afford the bus ticket Prices for the transfer from Fylakio to Athens are very high walk all the way to the next city meals left over, they are stored outside the detention centre. The detainees who put the garbage out have the »privilege« to take them. There is no yarding. Detainees are only allowed to go outside to pick up the food or to take out the garbage. »We do not have enough police officers to control the situation in order to let them out,« the officers repeatedly argued. What to do? The police had told them to remain in the yard for some hours. »They say they have no money for the bus, but they lie! If they have to wait for some hours, they will pay in the end,« an officer said. Later, another police officer asked them to pass the gate and leave. In the case of mass releases from Fylakio, refugees are transferred to Athens through a private bus company. The police, together with the bus companies, organise the trip. for which each released has to pay 65 Euro or 85 Dollars. If someone has no money, the others must pay for him/her or he/she has to walk. When it comes to individual releases, the refugee has to find his/her own means to leave from the detention centre. During our visit in November 2010, we witnessed the release of some migrants.115 It was early in the morning. The bus arrived at the yard of the prison. The seats were covered with plastic. the hands of the police officers with plastic gloves. One by one the ex-detainees entered the yard which was filled with bags. No names, no numbers, no registration. They searched the piled of personal belongings. F. could not find her Asthma medicaments; H. desperately searched for his documents without a reasonable chance to find even his bag; A. lost the contact phone numbers of his relatives. With the baggage of their former life retrieved or not, they climbed the bus and disappeared towards Athens. After two busses had left, a group of 35 remained. They had no money to pay. Among them a blind woman and small children; they were Somalis, Palestinians and Afghans. 115 On November 17, 2010, PRO ASYL members visited Fylakio detention centre. It is 16 km to the next railway station in Orestiada – 20 minutes by car or three hours to walk. A caravan of released persons started its odyssey through small villages, along the fields, passing by stork’s nests and tractors. They had to hurry to catch the last train for Alexandroupolis, that was leaving at 6:13 p.m.. Some made it, others didn’t. The tikkets for Athens were sold out. They had to spend the night out in the cold, in Orestiada or in Alexandroupoli. »I have no money at all! How can I go to Athens?« M. was wearing a shirt, trousers, shoes and a pullover. That was all he had. »How many minutes is it to walk to the railway station? How much is the ticket?«116 6.4. Recent changes in detention practice During our last mission, we saw that detention conditions had not improved. The only change was a decrease in the number of detainees. This drew from two different developments and changes in detention practice. In order to reduce the number of detainees inside the detention centres of the region, there was an increase of transfers to other detention centres, while simultaneously persons who could not be deported were detained temporarily outside. In the four detention centres, in average there were lower number of detainees but the same degree of in- and out- 116 November 17, 2010