The Independent writes that ‘orphan’ refugee children are lockedup in ‘medieval’ prisons alongside adult criminals on the Greek island of Kos. The article refers to the United Nations refugee agency’s efforts to save orphans from detention in flthy police cells.

The reportage states that children as young as 11 years who arrive by boat from Turkey with their parents have been held for weeks at a time in squalid cells that are “smeared in faeces”.

Volunteers from an NGO say that the Kos police station is a place of shame as minors suffer alongside hardened adult criminals and are given just one meal a day in addition to the fresh fruit and water supplied by charities. One child is said to have gone for two days without food. “The are not allowed to go outside and are handcuffed if they are moved to a different location,” reports the Independent according to reports by several witnesses who refused to be named.

Despite warnings by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the volunteers tell The Independent:

“There are bare electrical wires sticking out of the ceiling… There is shit on the floor and it is running out of the cell. They have to reach out through bars to receive their food. This is not normal in Europe.”

Greek law states that those who claim asylum cannot be matched up with relatives and are placed in the custody of a public prosecutor until they can be given to a suitable legal guardian. This can take place from days to weeks.