Samos
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The Samos facility operates at full capacity for extended periods, leading to significant shortages in meeting even the most basic needs. The Pre-Removal Detention Centre (PROKEKA) within the CCAC is not functioning only as a detention space but rather as accommodation for asylum seekers. By late October, asylum seekers were even residing in communal areas, a situation similar to what occurred during the same period last year due to overcrowding.
Key statistics for the Samos CCAC
Newcomers in quarantine
Newcomers are placed in quarantine upon their arrival in Samos, where men, women, and children are housed together in shared spaces. COVID-19 testing is conducted there. The quarantine lasts between 3 and 10 days until appropriate housing becomes available. Reports and testimonies from residents indicate that no personal hygiene items are provided by the CCAC, and they lack access to showers. They sleep on the floor on thin mats (similar to yoga mats). Meals are delivered to them there during their stay in quarantine.
During our visit to the CCAC, we met an asylum seeker who had been in this condition for 10 days. During registration by the police, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) is present and assists. From the completion of their full asylum application registration to the interview, a period of about one month typically elapses. However, this timeframe varies depending on the language of the interview, with Arabic speakers sometimes having their interviews in a shorter time. The time required for issuing decisions also depends on the number of cases being examined and the availability of interpreters.
Lack of running and drinking water
One of the most pressing issues at the Samos CCAC is the severe shortage of running and drinking water, despite the systems reported by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum regarding water supply and conservation. Similar issues were observed in previous years. Since there is no connection to a central water system, water is collected and distributed via tanker trucks connected to the facility’s main supply points.
Running water is only available for a few hours daily and varies by sector within the facility. Refugees we spoke to reported that running water was available for 4 to 7 hours a day, insufficient for daily hygiene (showers, toilets) or cleaning needs (clothing and living spaces). They also noted that the water appeared dirty.
Testimony
“When we take a shower, the water seems unclean. It has a slightly yellow colour, but we don’t have any other choice […] . Once I made tea with it, and it was dirty, as if it had oil in it” – Farzan*, asylum seeker from Iran
Although there is a designated area with washing machines in the CCAC, it is not operational due to water shortages.
The facility’s operational issues also affect the Regional Asylum Office of Samos, located within the CCAC. During the RSA team’s visit, there was no running water in the office’s toilet, nor was there any drinking or bottled water available when requested by a team member. When we inquired about the water shortage with the Reception and Identification Service, we received in their response (as of November 11, 2024) that: “A contract for the facility’s water supply was signed on 30 May 2024, with a contractor. Additionally, water is drawn from a borehole within the CCAC, which yields an average of 77.71 m³ per 24 hours. It should be noted that the Municipality of East Samos ceased providing water to the CCAC on 14 June 2024. The RIC and CCAC Directorate, particularly the RIS, has submitted a request to extend the water supply agreement with the contractor to ensure uninterrupted water provision until 31 March 2025, as well as a new request for water supply procurement to cover all of 2025.” No further response was received regarding the hours during which water is available at the CCAC, effectively confirming the issue of intermittent running water.
Unacceptable living conditions - Beds without mattresses
In stark contrast to the sophisticated and ultra-modern security systems at the entrance to the CCAC, we observed during our visit that the situation inside the facility was chaotic and labyrinthine. Fences and security personnel were everywhere, with no signs indicating where the services were located. Additionally, there was dust, trash, and overflowing garbage bins scattered throughout the site.
The condition of the containers was particularly concerning. Many were filthy, infested with bedbugs and cockroaches, while most beds lacked mattresses. Blankets were seemingly shared among residents, while there were broken plumbing fixtures overflowing with sewage, and blackened, dirty sanitary facilities (toilets, sinks, and showers). This situation was evident even in sectors housing families and vulnerable populations, who reportedly live in better conditions.
Testimony
“There is a lot of humidity; our legs and backs hurt. There are many cockroaches and insects that bite the children. […] The door to our home doesn’t lock. We asked them to fix it, but they didn’t” – Arash*, refugee from Iran and father of three children
Refugees are compelled to purchase themselves essential items that should ordinarily be provided by the facility.
Testimony
“I bought a mattress for my pregnant wife and daughter. I sleep on a thin mat on the floor” – Amin*, Palestinian refugee, husband to a heavily pregnant woman, and father of a three-year-old girl
Some containers lacked even basic amenities.
Testimony
“All our bathrooms have broken sinks from which water flows. […] When we arrived, there were no beds; we found some from other containers […]. We don’t have mattresses; they didn’t even give us blankets at first” – Abdalla*, asylum seeker from Sudan
Residents attempt to reuse items left by previous occupants to meet their needs.
Testimony
“I took a blanket and a mattress from an emptied container. I tried to clean it myself. […] I wasn’t allowed to bring disinfectant spray into the CCAC to clean it” – Farzan*, refugee from Iran and a torture survivor
Lack of basic hygiene items
Residents do not all receive essential hygiene items, such as soap or toilet paper. Newcomers are given a voucher by the Reception and Identification Service and then address the organisation Eurorelief to receive shoes and clothes. For the rest of their stay, they must procure hygiene items themselves. Even unaccompanied minors are not provided with basic personal hygiene products.
Testimony
“They only gave me a pair of shoes, a shirt, and a small bar of soap. Nothing else – not even shampoo or a toothbrush” – Abdalla*
Local residents in Samos voluntarily collect and distribute necessary items (clothing, shoes, etc.) to those staying in the facility.
At the end of October, residents lacked soap for washing clothes and bodies, as well as shampoo and blankets, despite falling temperatures. Families with children attending school were deprived of these necessities, along with the general population. Daily meals are distributed all at once, once per day. Each resident receives three litres of bottled water as part of the catering, according to the Reception and Identification Service’s response to us (as of 11/11/2024). Newly arrived residents are provided with a “food card” to access meals after leaving quarantine, in order to be able to queue for them. However, a particularly vulnerable family, including a heavily pregnant woman who had been hospitalised upon arrival and a three-year-old child, was not issued a food card even five days after their registration, leaving them without any interim solution.
Absence of essential medical services in the CCAC
The facility faces significant shortages of doctors, medicines, and medical supplies. According to the Reception and Identification Service’s response to us (as of 11/11/2024), there is no doctor on-site, only four nurses, two social workers, one psychologist, and one laboratory radiology technologist. The chronic understaffing of medical personnel persists in the facility.
Asylum seekers do not have health cards, and preventive check-ups and screenings are entirely absent. None of the refugees we spoke to had undergone preventive medical screening beyond COVID-19 testing. Additionally, we noted a lack of organised mass vaccination initiatives for minors, with vaccinations mandated only for school enrolment.
The facility does not stock even basic medicines, while there have been periodic appeals to NGOs to cover for them. Referrals are made to the Samos Hospital, which is itself critically understaffed. Moreover, significant communication issues with patients from the facility arise at the hospital due to a lack of interpreters. Many cases are handled by the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Day Care Centre in Vathy. MSF also operates a mobile unit within the facility three times a week, providing transportation for patients between the CCAC and the Day Care Centre. They also maintain a presence at the hospital from Monday to Friday and respond to the emergency medical needs of new arrivals through their Emergency Medical Assistance teams.
Serious shortcomings in identifying vulnerabilities
Our meetings with refugees confirmed severe deficiencies in identifying, supporting and further assessing vulnerable populations, a clear consequence of the medical staff shortages. Asylum seekers attend their asylum interviews without prior vulnerability assessments. Often, this process is postponed until later stages, after first registration, either upon referral by NGO lawyers who happen to represent vulnerable asylum seekers or during the asylum interview by the Asylum Service. Among those we met, only one survivor of a shipwreck, whose pregnant partner drowned, was referred to a psychologist. A heavily pregnant woman who had been hospitalised upon arrival was not identified as vulnerable. Similarly, a single male survivor of torture requested to speak with a psychologist from the CCAC but had not received assistance as of our visit date.
Detention facilities at the Samos Police Directorate
On 9 October, an RSA team visited the detention facilities at the Samos Police Directorate. We observed poor conditions within the detention areas. There is no outdoor space for the people, and natural light is only available through an air shaft on one side of the detention area. There are no showers or hot water, and detainees are not provided with personal hygiene items or phone cards. Detainees are held in three cells with a capacity of 12 people each. During our visit, there were 8 detainees. The duration of stay in these facilities ranges from 3 to 10 days, depending on the availability of transfer.
*Names of persons cited in this publication have been changed to protect safety and privacy.
Read also
Main report on all the islands
The situation in the CCACs in detail by island:
Available also in greek / Διαθέσιμο και στα ελληνικά
Our previous publication on the situation in Leros (2023)
Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), December 2024