Greece: the Council of Europe denounces the "inhuman" conditions of detention of migrants

Observers from the Council of Europe's anti-torture committee visited Greece's easternmost region of Evros in March.

REUTERS / Marko Djurica

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The Council of Europe anti-torture committee in its report released Thursday vilified the "inhumane" conditions of detention for migrants in Greece, urging the country to review its reception policy.

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Observers from the Council of Europe's anti-torture committee visited in March

, the easternmost region of Greece, bordering Turkey, and to the island of Samos, separated from Turkey by a strait just 1.6 kilometers wide.

They are outraged that the Greek authorities are holding young children and babies in detention for periods of up to a month or more.

At the port of Samos, they visited two cells of 42 and 32 square meters, accommodating 43 and 50 people respectively, without heating, lighting and beds.

They point to deplorable hygienic conditions and migrants having " 

 ".

Conditions which constitute inhuman and degrading treatment.

In response, the Greek government reports that the police have not received any complaints of ill-treatment.

The Greek authorities nevertheless admit that

.

Finally, the

deplore that the Greek courts are prosecuting numerous migrants for “ 

 ” into the territory, and imposing on them sentences of up to four years in prison and 10,000 euros in fines.

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