The number detained at any given time fluctuates. As of June 21, 82 requests were pending for children to be transferred out of police custody, and on August 4, the Greek delegation to the Committee on the Elimination of Economic Discrimination said that 56 children were being detained by police.19 In a letter dated August 9, 2016 deputy director of the Hellenic Police Georgios Karaiskos said 27 children were at that time “hosted temporarily in special sites, whose competence falls on Greek Police.”20 As of August 11, 35 requests were pending for children to be transferred out of police custody.21 Records at the Filiates station showed that the eight children held there had been in police custody for an average of one month, and that one child had been in detention for more than two months. At the Paranesti pre-removal detention center in northeast Greece, five children said they had been detained for three months or more, and the police captain at the facility said that children were being held for an average of three to four months at the center.22 Lansana C., 17-year-old boy from Guinea, said he had been at the Amygdaleza detention center for two months: “They told me they were going to keep me for only four days here until they find another place for me and it’s been 60 days that I’m here. I don't feel okay here.”23 Mukhtar G., a 17-year-old boy from Syria detained at Paranesti detention center said: I don't want to be in a prison. I asked the police why I am here and they didn't respond. I told them ‘I am a minor and I haven’t done anything. Why are you keeping me here?’ And they didn't respond. I feel like I have killed someone.24 Sixteen children detained in police protective custody told Human Rights Watch they had been detained at several sites, including other police stations, facilities on the Greek 19 “Mapping of Unaccompanied Children (UAC) shelter needs v.12” National Center for Social Solidarity, June 27, 2016. 20 Letter from Georgios Karaiskos, deputy director of the Hellenic Police, to Human Rights Watch, August 9, 2016. 21 “Mapping of Unaccompanied Children (UAC) shelter needs v.18,” August 11, 2016. 22 Human Rights Watch interview with Athanasios Charelas, police captain, Paranesti pre-removal detention center, Drama, June 29, 2016. 23 Human Rights Watch interview with Lansana C., Amygdaleza pre-removal detention center, Athens, July 2, 2016. 24 Human Rights Watch interview with Mukhtar G., Paranesti pre-removal detention center, Drama, June 29, 2016. 13 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2016