Immigrant detention facilities in Greece criticized

The international aid organization Doctors Without Borders was sharply critical of conditions in Greek migrant detention facilities in a report issued Tuesday. The group, formally named Medecins Sans Frontieres and based in Geneva, Switzerland, said in its report, titled "Invisible Suffering," that migrants seeking asylum are detained in "deplorable" conditions with "devastating" consequences to their health, the website of the Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported. The report was based on testimony of medical staff which visited Greek police stations and migrant detention facilities. It said, in part, that in some situations detainees have been forbidden to go outdoors for up to 17 months. It added that particularly vulnerable groups, including minors and torture victims, are subject to prolonged detention. The report called on Greek authorities to "put an end to the indiscriminate, systematic and prolonged detention of migrants" and to "invest in a reception system adapted to the physical, medical and humanitarian needs" of the detainees.