Pagani Detention Center

Pagani Detention Center is a detention center in the island of Lesbos, Greece for illegal immigrants who arrive by boat from Turkey.

A converted former storage facility in Lesbos, the center was designed for 300 people, but at times housed up to 1,200 immigrants in cramped conditions, often lacking in medicinal care and subject to beatings from the guards, drawing condemnations of Greek and foreign humanitarian watchdogs.[1] On 18 August 2009, 160 under-age refugees, who were detained in a single room and sharing the same toilet, started an hunger strike demanding immediate freedom.

In autumn 2009, after a visit by the Deputy Minister for the Protection of the Citizen, the Greek government pledged to close down Pagani and other similarly overcrowded centers in the Eastern Aegean islands. Pagani was closed for 20 days in November.[2] As of April 2010, the lower rooms have been closed, and only the upper storey remains, accommodating some 30–40 people.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Article on MDS Greece, 9 November 2009
  2. ↑ Article on in.gr, 31 October 2009
  3. ↑ Τα Δηκτικά, 23 April 2010 Empros newspaper, Lesbos.

Coordinates: 39°10′00″N 26°20′00″E / 39.1667°N 26.3333°E / 39.1667; 26.3333

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/25/2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.