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For Immediate Release
June, 17 2010, 01:57pm EDT
Contact:
Tim Shenk,Press Officer,Direct: 212-763-5764,E-mail:,tim.shenk@newyork.msf.org
Migrants in Detention: Lives on Hold
MSF Report Documents Deplorable Living Conditions for Migrants, Asylum Seekers Detained in Greece
ATHENS
Ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, the international medical
humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF) today released a report documenting the impact of
detention on the wellbeing and mental health of migrants and asylum
seekers in detention centers in Greece. MSF urges Greek authorities to
ensure humane living conditions for detained migrants, and to consider
alternatives to their detention.
MSF's report, "Migrants in detention: Lives on hold,"
documents the unacceptable living conditions in the three detention
centers of Pagani on Lesvos Island, Filakio in Evros and Venna in
Rodopi, where MSF provided psychosocial support to detained migrants
from August 2009 to June 2010.
"The report
shows that detention can exacerbate existing symptoms and contribute to
new traumas and psychological distress," said Ioanna Kotsioni, deputy
head of mission of MSF's project for migrants in Greece. "Most of the
migrants supported by MSF described detention as a painful and inhumane
experience. Detention was the single most important reason for distress
and anxiety."
Most of the detainees have fled war-torn or
unstable countries, such as Afghanistan or Iraq, seeking security. They
endure a long and dangerous journey to reach Europe and upon arrival
are arrested and detained in degrading conditions. According to the report,
almost one third of MSF patients mentioned that they experienced or
witnessed violence in their country of origin or that their life was
threatened. MSF psychologists observed symptoms of post-traumatic
stress disorder in 9.5 percent of the patients. During individual
sessions, 39 percent of patients presented symptoms of anxiety, while
31 percent presented symptoms of depression.
The report
also reveals that conditions in the detention centers are below
national and international standards. Inappropriate facilities are
often used and overcrowding is a persistent problem in some detention
centers. Sanitary conditions are usually very poor. Detained migrants
are not allowed to go out of their cells on a regular basis and family
members are separated. No provisions are in place for vulnerable
groups, such as pregnant women, minors, and people with disabilities.
Migrants and asylum seekers receive inadequate information about their
legal status and the detention system and there are no interpreters
present.
Moreover, migrants systematically complained to MSF
teams that they were receiving insufficient medical care and had
difficulties in communicating with the doctors. Migrants and asylum
seekers detained in all three detention centers often said they were
being treated "like animals". As one detained migrant told MSF: "How
can I live here? This place is for animals. I am looking at everyone's
faces and I see only death".
During its interventions in the three detention centers, MSF witnessed
the negative impact of detention on the wellbeing and mental health of
migrants and asylum seekers and raised its concerns with the
authorities, urging them to improve living conditions and seek
alternatives to detention.
MSF urges Greek authorities to carefully measure the impact of
detention on the well being of migrants and asylum seekers and to
consider alternatives, especially for vulnerable groups. The Greek
government's plan to establish reception/screening centers for new
arrivals is a positive first step and should be implemented. The
government should ensure that conditions and services in these centers
are in accordance with international standards and pay particular
attention to providing appropriate medical and mental health care.
Detained migrants and asylum seekers should be treated in a humane and
dignified manner and those who wish to do so should be given the
possibility to seek asylum.
MSF has been providing psychosocial support to migrants and asylum
seekers in three detention centers, Pagani on Lesvos Island, Filakio in
Evros and Venna in Rodopi, since August 2009. MSF teams comprised of
psychologists, social workers and interpreters and regularly visited
the detention centers. Psychosocial support was offered through
individual and group counselling sessions. MSF psychologists saw 305
patients in 381 first and follow-up individual consultations. In
addition, 79 group sessions and 258 play therapy sessions were held.
MSF ceased its activities in the detention centers at the end of May
2010.
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971. MSF's work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. MSF operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas.
LATEST NEWS
Warning of Grave Threat to Free Speech, Judge Frees Rümeysa Öztürk
"There has been no evidence that has been introduced by the government other than the op-ed," U.S. District Judge William Sessions III said, referring to Öztürk's article urging divestment from Israel.
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Rümeysa Öztürk, one of several pro-Palestine scholars kidnapped and imprisoned by the Trump administration under its dubious interpretation of an 18th-century law and a Cold War-era national security measure, was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Friday following a federal judge's order.
U.S. District Judge William Sessions III in Vermont ruled that Öztürk—a 30-year-old Turkish Ph.D. student at Tufts University in Massachusetts and Fulbright scholar—was illegally detained in March, when masked plainclothes federal agents snatched her off a suburban Boston street in broad daylight in what eyewitnesses and advocates likened to a kidnapping and flew her to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Louisiana.
The government admits that Öztürk committed no crime. She was targeted because of an
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"There has been no evidence that has been introduced by the government other than the op-ed," said Sessions, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton. "That literally is the case."
BREAKING: a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to immediately release on bail Rumeysa Ozturk, a Muslim grad student at Tufts University who was abducted and abused by ICE agents, all because she wrote an editorial, yes, an editorial, critical of the Israeli government's genocide.
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— CAIR (The Council on American-Islamic Relations) ( @cairnational.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 11:12 AM
"There is no evidence here as to the motivation, absent consideration of the op-ed, so that creates unto itself a very significant substantial claim that the op-ed—that is, the expression of one's opinion as ordinarily protected by the First Amendment—form the basis of this particular detention," the judge continued, adding that Öztürk's "continued detention potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens."
"There is absolutely no evidence that she has engaged in violence, or advocated violence, she has no criminal record," Sessions noted. "She has done nothing other than, essentially, attend her university and expand her contacts in her community in such a supportive way."
"Her continued detention cannot stand," he added.
The Trump administration has openly flouted judge's rulings—including a U.S. Supreme Court order—that direct it to release detained immigrants. Sessions' Friday ruling follows his earlier order to send Öztürk to Vermont and Wednesday's 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmation of the judge's directive, both of which have been ignored by the administration.
Seeing that Öztürk was still in ICE custody hours after his order, Sessions reiterated his directive Friday afternoon.
"In light of the court's finding of no flight risk and no danger to the community, petitioner is to be released from ICE custody immediately on her own recognizance, without any form of body-worn GPS or other ICE monitoring at this time," the judge wrote.
Multiple media outlets reported Öztürk's release Friday afternoon.
Mahsa Khanbabai, Öztürk's attorney, toldCourthouse News Service she's "relieved and ecstatic" that her client has been ordered released.
"Unfortunately, it is 45 days too late," Khanbabai lamented. "She has been imprisoned all these days for simply writing an op-ed that called for human rights and dignity for the people in Palestine. When did speaking up against oppression become a crime? When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?"
The Trump administration has dubiously invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the president to detain dor deport citizens of countries with which the U.S. is at war, in a bid to justify Öztürk's persecution. The administration has also cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which empowers the secretary of state to order the expulsion of noncitizens whose presence in the United States is deemed detrimental to U.S. foreign policy interests.
"When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?"
Secretary of State Marco Rubio—who lied about Öztürk supporting Hamas—has used such determinations to target people for engaging in constitutionally protected speech and protest.
"We do it every day," Rubio said in March in defense of the policy. "Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas."
Rubio has invoked the law to target numerous other students who the government admits committed no crimes. These include Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Yunseo Chung—all permanent U.S. residents—as well as Ranjani Srinivasan and others. Far-right, pro-Israel groups like Betar and Canary Mission have compiled lists containing the names of these and other pro-Palestine students that are shared with the Trump administration for possible deportation.
Foreign nationals—and some U.S. citizens wrongfully swept up in the Trump administration's mass deportation effort—are imprisoned in facilities including private, for-profit detention centers, where there are widespread reports of poor conditions and alleged abuses.
These include denial of medical care, insufficient access to feminine hygiene products, and rotten food at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, where Öztürk—who, according to Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), has received no religious or dietary accommodations and had her hijab forcibly removed—is being held.
Öztürk also suffers from asthma and told Sessions via Zoom Friday that her attacks have increased behind bars due to stress. Dr. Jessica McCannon, a pulmonologist, testified that Öztürk's asthma appears to be poorly controlled in ICE custody, according to
courtroom coverage on the social media site Bluesky by freelance journalist Joshua J. Friedman.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was among those who on Friday demanded Öztürk's immediate release, while other lawmakers and human rights and free speech defenders celebrated Sessions' decision.
"Rümeysa Öztürk has finally been ordered released," Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said on social media. "She has been unlawfully detained for more than six weeks in an ICE facility in Louisiana, more than 1,500 miles away from Somerville. This is a victory for Rümeysa, for justice, and for our democracy."
In the United States, we guarantee free speech. No one here will lose their rights and freedom for publishing an op-ed. This is a win for the rule of law. Rümeysa is free!
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— Representative Becca Balint ( @balint.house.gov) May 9, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Seth Stern, director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement that "it is unfathomable that in the United States legal system, it takes 45 days for a judge to rule that people can't be put behind bars for writing op-eds the government doesn't like."
"Without a system committed to its principles, the Constitution is just words on paper, and they don't mean much if this can happen here," Stern continued. "Öztürk's abduction and imprisonment is one of the most shameful chapters in First Amendment history."
"We're thankful that Judge Sessions moved it one step closer to an end and we call on the Trump administration to release Öztürk immediately and not attempt to stall with any further authoritarian nonsense," he added.
Amid President Donald Trump's defunding threats and pressure from ICE officials, universities have told "many hundreds" of international students that they have lost their immigration status and must immediately self-deport. These notifications were based on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) termination of students' records on the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a database used by schools and authorities to access visa information.
Although DHS admitted in court that it had no authority to use SEVIS to revoke students' status, the Trump administration still canceled more than 1,800 visas before reversing course last month pending an ICE policy revamp.
In addition to moving to deport pro-Palestine students, the Trump administration is sending Latin American immigrants—including wrongfully expelled Maryland man Kilmar Abrego García—to a notorious prison in El Salvador, and the president has repeatedly threatened to send natural-born U.S. citizens there.
As with Öztürk and other detained students, the Trump administration has dubiously invoked the Alien Enemies Act in trying to deport García and others. However, federal judges—including multiple Trump appointees—have thwarted some of these efforts.
On Friday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said that Trump and his advisers are "actively looking at" suspending habeas corpus as a means of overcoming judicial pushback against the administration's deportation blitz.
"Well, the Constitution is clear—and that of course is the supreme law of the land—that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion," Miller told reporters at the White House. No foreign entity has invaded the United States since Japanese forces landed in the Aleutian Islands in the then-territory of Alaska during World War II.
Critics pointed out that Miller's proposal is, in fact, blatantly unconstitutional.
"Since it appears needs to be said: The authority to suspend habeas corpus lies with Congress, not the president, and is only legal during extreme circumstances of rebellion or invasion," Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott said on Bluesky. "Stephen Miller is full of shit."
It wasn't just Democrats and Palestine defenders who cheered Sessions' ruling Friday. Billy Binion, who covers "all things injustice" for the libertarian website Reason, said on social media that the government's "entire case against her is that... she wrote an op-ed."
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