Author
Overall living conditions
State of the facilities
Menogia Detention Centre, as well as the holding cells in the police stations and the airports, are under the management of the Police, therefore the guards are police officers. In 2024, the staff of Menogia Detention Centre was comprised of 27 police officers working in 4 different shifts, as well as a 13-person cleaning crew. In addition, the following staff is stationed at Menogia: an examiner of asylum applications of the Asylum Service, two Frontex officers, 4 Immigration liaison officers (one per 12-hour shift during the day), a full-time doctor (working there on weekdays between 08:30am-15:30pm). There is also one nurse available on a 24-hr basis (working in shifts) as well as one mental health nurse during office hours. Furthermore, a psychologist visits the Centre twice a week during office hours and two students conducting their clinical psychology training visit once once a week. Detainees who seek psychiatric assistance, or other specialised medical assistance, must make an appointment with the doctor, who then refers them to the psychiatrist at the General Hospital of Larnaca district if needed.[1]
In recent years, there have been noticeable improvements to the living conditions in Menogia,[2] following recommendations made by the CPT, the Committee against Torture (CAT),[3] and the Ombudsman’s Office. There are thus less complaints about custodial staff behaviour, food, or outdoor access. However, as reported by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, detainees in Menogia complain about the lack of activities, as well as the length of their detention, some of them having being detained in the past.[4] The Commissioner also noted that detainees deprived of their liberty for months without any prospect of either deportation or release do not understand the purpose of their continuous detention and feel treated as criminals.[5] This leads to high levels of stress, and has resulted in several hunger strikes in Menogia in recent years, mostly by irregular migrants and rejected asylum applicants, along with a few asylum applicants.[6]
The situation remained the same in 2024 and 2025, with the CPT noting that some renovations had occurred such as upgraded exercise yards and a new secure perimeter fence, but little had been done to mitigate the carceral environment. The strict rules accentuated the prison-like atmosphere, as did the distant and impersonal staff-detainee relations, with staff remaining outside the unit doors apart from routine rounds and with a limited regime of activities in place. The CPT maintains that the environment remains unnecessarily restrictive, given the nature and purpose of the administrative detention of migrants.[7]
There are no serious deficiencies as to the sanitary facilities provided, except from occasional reports of some toilets and showers being faulty.[8] Overall, the cleanliness of the detention centre seems to be of a decent standard. Cleaners are present in the Centre 7 days a week, and the communal areas such as toilets, showers and TV rooms in each block are cleaned twice daily. Furthermore, prior to 2018, washing machines for clothes operated two or three times a week; however, following, a scabies outbreak, it was decided to give detainees 24/7 access to washing machines.[9]
Since Menogia began operating, there have not been any reports regarding overcrowding. The overall capacity was initially deemed to be too high and conditions in the cells/rooms that accommodate detainees are cramped, as there were eight persons/four bunk beds in an 18m2 room. The capacity was reduced from 256 to 128 places, after a CPT recommendation in 2014[10] and the cells/rooms now accommodate four persons with two bunk beds per room. However, in 2025, it was noted that out of the 4 wings, the 3, which are designated for male detainees, have been admitting a larger number than the normal capacity. As a result of PHC being constantly full, Menogia occasionally takes in more detainees than their protocol provides. This usually happens for a short period of time, with people who are scheduled to be deported soon after they are placed in Menogia.[11]
The provision of clothing in Menogia has improved in recent years, with the Red Cross Cyprus as well as other volunteer organisations providing clothes. Even police officers donate their own old clothes to detainees. Moreover, upon arrival, detainees are provided with a sanitary package, which includes soap, shampoo, razor blades for men and sanitary products for women. Shampoo and soap are usually provided by the detention centre; however, detainees are expected to pay for extra products, such as sanitary products, water and other snacks throughout their time spent there. Police officers provide detainees with the opportunity to fill out a shopping list and officers either make a shopping run or place orders at the nearby market.[12]
Detainees in Menogia including asylum applicants have access to open-air spaces. The size of the outdoor space is approximately the size of a basketball court. At noon, detainees are allowed to spend a minimum of one hour and half in the courtyard; each wing given a different time slot.
Regarding food, detainees are provided with 3 meals a day. Breakfast usually includes toast with butter; lunch typically includes legumes or pasta; and some kind of meat or fish with a side of rice or potatoes is served for dinner.
In Menogia, detainees mentioned that pork is not included in the menu and that the meat provided is mainly chicken.[13] It was also mentioned that, during Ramadan, religious dietary requirements are accommodated. Other dietary needs for medical reasons are also accommodated. Regarding both quality and quantity, the level of satisfaction varied among detainees. Some detainees mentioned that the food tends to be repetitive for prolonged periods of time, with only the side dish varying. Food quality is frequently monitored by the officers receiving it.
Some detainees drink tap water that is available at the centre (safe to drink in Cyprus). However, the majority purchase water from a mini market close to the Centre. In 2023, a water fountain was installed in each wing to encourage use of tap water. For purchases outside the Centre, there is a procedure to order items and the costs are covered by the detainees.
Conditions in the holding cells of the various police stations vary but are overall considered to be sub-standard. In a report issued by the Ombudsman’s Office following a monitoring visit in Oroklini, Larnaca, the conditions were found to be below accepted standards and included issues related to lack of access to outdoor spaces, cleanliness and hygiene facilities, access to information, and access to remedies.[14] A similar report was issued in September 2020, again by the Ombudsman’s Office, based on a monitoring visit of a Pafos police station.[15] The recommendations included not using holding cells for purposes of immigration detention and moving persons to Menogia within 48 hours; increasing access to telephone and online communication; fixing doors to cells to ensure privacy; posting in every cell the rights of detainees; creating an entertainment area; and improving/fixing infrastructure on hygiene facilities. Finally, the report stated that the practice of making detainees clean hygiene facilities must be terminated.
Regarding access to open-air spaces for detainees in holding cells, the situation varies. Many lack sufficient open-air spaces and there are reports of detainees having extremely limited time outside. This is especially problematic for detainees during Ramadan, as observed from recent cases in March 2024, as detainees did not have access to sunlight in Lakatamia police holding cells. Furthermore, they do not have any recreational facilities.[16]
The CPT, in its 2025 Report, noted improvements in the Lakatamia Police Detention Centre, specifically hygiene kits were provided to detained persons upon admission to the Centre and the provision of food had improved since 2023, with three meals offered daily, including two hot meals.. However, regarding access to fresh air and sunlight, despite previous recommendations made, the delegation found that no action appeared to have been taken in the police stations visited: cell windows remained covered with mesh or were made up of opaque glass blocks, which reduced the level of natural light entering the cells. Furthermore, the courtyard in Lakatamia Police Detention Centre remained enclosed by opaque plastic sheeting, effectively transforming it into an enclosed indoor yard.[17]
Regarding the accommodation of dietary requirements for religious or medical reasons, the situation in holding cells is similar to that in the Menogia detention centre, but quality and quantity varies from one holding cell to another. Regarding the Police Station in Lakatamia, in 2022, detainees mentioned that they each have a bottle/cup for drinking water. When it ran out, they would have to ask the police officers to refill their bottle/cup. This meant that they either had to shout out to a police officer or ring a buzzer to alert police officers. All detainees mentioned the practice as problematic, while some mentioned that sometimes it took the officers a long time to come and take the bottle/cup or to bring it back filled. However, improvements were made in 2023, in that detainees now have access to a water dispenser all day, as their cells are open almost all day until 10 pm. However, there were times that the water tasted salty, as one detainee mentioned, and thus had to purchase water bottles provided at the police station.
The conditions of PHC were raised again by the CPT in its 2024 report on Cyprus, which stated that “police stations visited designed to detain persons for more than 24 hours offered satisfactory material conditions overall for short stays of a few days, most of the police stations visited were dirty and certain installations such as call bells and artificial lighting were not functioning. Access to natural light also remained a problem in all police stations and detention centres visited, where windows of cells and yards were covered with layers of metal mesh, wooden boards or opaque windows in order to prevent sunlight from directly entering the cells. This prevented detained persons from having access to natural light and rendered the cells very sombre. Access to fresh air remains problematic.”[18]
In early 2024, the Ombudsman’s Office also carried out an unannounced visit to the Limassol police holding cell, under the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture. According to the Report, the holding cells cannot be considered compatible with international standards for the detention of any prisoner. As pointed out in the 17-page report, the detention centre remains in a poor state of infrastructure, there is overcrowding, some prisoners share their cell with another person, and there are cases of prisoners sleeping on a mattress on the floor. In the section for immigration detainees, the lighting is insufficient, a fact that is aggravated by the absence of windows in the cells. Furthermore, it is noted that problems in the Limassol detention centre were also identified during the visit of the Council of Europe in 2017, which were recorded in a report, however, as it appears, nothing has been done to date.[19] Information from Monitoring visits to Limassol PHC in May 2025 indicated at they added a TV with Netflix in the outdoor common area and a renovation was scheduled for September 2025, however no further update was reported.
The CPT in the 2025 report stated that ‘Despite the CPT’s recommendations, the regime for detained persons across the stations visited remained inadequate. The findings again point to the fact that police stations are totally inadequate places to hold persons for longer than short periods.’ [20]
Regarding conditions at the holding facilities at Larnaca and Paphos International Airports these are considered substandard with main issues including no access to natural light, fresh air or outdoor exercise area and with rooms locked at all times. Both the CPT and the national Ombudsman consider these facilities to be only acceptable for holding persons for a few hours. [21]
Activities
Detainees in Menogia have access to a television located in the communal area, and there are magazines and books provided by the Red Cross Cyprus. However, these are very limited in number and are mostly available in English. Detainees have access to computers in the communal areas.[22] Detainees have access to internet through their mobile phones.[23] Access to WiFi is only available in communal spaces and not in the detainees’ cells. During access to outdoor spaces, detainees can engage in recreational activities such as basketball, football, card playing, chess, and backgammon. Instructors for drawing, dancing, and a physical trainer carry out activities on a weekly basis, however there is no information on the number of detainees attending these.
As part of the Ministry of Education’s fund for Adult Education Centres, there are also service providers such as a dance teacher, an art teacher, and a gym instructor that visits the centre once per week.[24]
On the two days a week when the gym instructor goes, detainees may spend more time in the courtyard, as that is where the class takes place. However, according to information gathered by the CyRC, not many detainees are interested in attending the gym classes as they take place during the morning when they prefer to sleep almost until noon. According to the staff in Menogia, women detainees are more likely to take the gym classes.[25]
In 2024, the CPT reiterated its recommendation that the Cypriot authorities should further develop the range of, and increase access to, more structured, organised, purposeful activities for persons held at the Menogia Detention Centre. It also recommended that detained persons be restricted in their freedom of movement as little as possible and that they have free access to outdoor exercise throughout the day.[26]
In holding cells, entertainment facilitates vary. In Limassol PHC for example there is a TV accessible in the outdoor space which also has Netflix. However, in most PHC there are no reading materials, computers, or televisions and in most cases no internet access. Phone allowance and hours spent outside of their cells vary. For example, detainees are only allowed to use their phones when they are taken out of their cells which in certain Police Stations, like in Paphos district, may be 2 times per day, one hour each, whereas in Lakatamia they are allowed to have their phones on them throughout the day until 10 o’clock in the evening when they lock up their cells.
Health care in detention
According to the Law on Rights of Persons who are Arrested and Detained, a detainee has a right to medical examination, treatment, and monitoring at any time during detention.[27] The relevant law does not limit this right to emergency situations and, from the testimonies of detainees, they seem to indeed have access to medical examinations, treatment, and monitoring in situations which cannot be classified as emergencies. However, the law provides for the criminal prosecution of a detainee who, if it is proven that the detainee has abused the right to medical examinations, treatment and monitoring, i.e., by requesting it without suffering from a health complication requiring medical examination, treatment or monitoring.[28] If a detainee is found guilty of this offence, they are liable to three years in prison, or a fine of up to €5,125.80. In practice it does not seem to be used, and the CPT has recommended that it be removed from the Law. It has yet to be removed.
Upon entering Menogia, detainees undergo medical examinations for specific contagious diseases e.g., tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis tests, but not a full assessment of physical and mental health issues. In 2023, the CPT expressed concerns about the completeness of the medical files held at the Menogia Detention Centre, which could compromise their reliability. Specifically, the report mentions medical related incidents that have not been included in the medical file; the description of injuries omitting relevant details (such as, its location and dimension); a lack of detail about the origin of the injury by the foreign detainee; or the doctor’s opinion about the consistency between the injury and the allegation. Also, from the small sample of files assessed by the delegation’s medical doctor it transpired that the medical examination at admission, besides not revealing injuries on covered parts of the body was also insufficiently thorough; in one case, a pre-existing psychiatric illness had not been detected. In addition, the delegation observed that the medical notes were cursory, at times consisting of no more than one single word. An extra complication is that it appears that a detained person may have two distinct medical files and none of the medical information from the first medical file is included into the second file, and no cross reference was made in either file.[29]
The Medical Centre of Menogia is staffed with a General Practitioner on a full-time basis, from Monday to Friday from 07:30am to 15:00pm. In addition, two nurses, a general nurse, and a mental health nurse are present at the Centre 24 hours per day daily, in shifts. A clinical psychologist was appointed by the Department of Mental Health Services, working there twice a week during office hours. From 2022 onwards, a group of psychology university students visited the centre providing psychosocial support as part of a Red Cross initiative, initially on a weekly basis but in 2025 it was reduced and they visit when requested by the officers. In cases of emergencies, or where it is deemed necessary, detainees are transferred to Larnaca General Hospital or the old Hospital in Larnaca where psychiatrists and dentists are located. If a detainee is in need of a mental health practitioner, they must be referred to one by the on-site GP. During transportation, detainees are handcuffed, apart from certain cases of persons with disabilities, usually for the entire duration of transportation, and there is no indication that an individual security assessment is carried out on the necessity of this measure. Depending on the examining doctor, they may also be handcuffed during the medical examination, and usually a policeman or policewoman – depending on the gender of the detainee – is present or close by throughout the medical examination.
According to the law, any communication between the detainee and members of staff or police for purposes of medical examinations is deemed an “important” interaction and, therefore, authorities are obliged to ensure communication in a language which the detainee understands.[30] Based on the testimonies of detainees, due to the lack of interpreters available during the medical examination, other detainees are requested to serve as interpreters.[31] Although detainees seem willing to provide such assistance, in view of the sensitivity of medical information, it cannot be considered to satisfy the requirement of the law.
For a detainee to receive medical care and be examined by a doctor during detention, a written request must be lodged on their behalf. These requests, if submitted in English or Greek, are attended to in a timely manner and with a prompt response, and there were no complaints regarding the time it took for a request to be processed and for the detainee to see a doctor. There is no available information of anyone attempting to submit such a request in another language so as to know if it would be accepted and if there are procedures in place to have it translated. Most detainees who do not write in Greek or English, or who are illiterate, will ask a fellow detainee or an officer to fill this request for them.[32]
Regarding access to medical care for detainees including asylum applicants being held in a holding cell at police stations, they are taken to public hospitals in a manner similar to that described above. However, the way in which such requests are handled may vary from one holding cell to another.
Special needs in detention
Families are not detained, and the plan to create a wing in Menogia for the purpose of detaining families with children never moved forward. [33] Unaccompanied children are not detained, nor are mothers of young children. Women are always detained separately from men but there are no special provisions for vulnerable persons in detention.
There is no effective mechanism in detention centres or in PHC to identify and assess vulnerabilities. Persons categorised as vulnerable before detention or during their detention may still be detained, depending on their vulnerability. Persons with physical disabilities will in most cases not be detained in Menogia. (see Detention of vulnerable persons)
[1]Ibid.
[2] CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, Report by Nils MUIŽNIEKS, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe following his visit to Cyprus from 7 to 11 December 2015, 31 March 2016, para 1.3.2, available here. See also KISA, Improvements regarding detention conditions – significant problems regarding detention and deportation practices, 29 January 2017, available here.
[3] CAT, Concluding Observations on the Fourth Report of Cyprus, 21 May 2014, available here.
[4] CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, Report by Nils MUIŽNIEKS, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe following his visit to Cyprus from 7 to 11 December 2015, 31 March 2016, para 1.3.2, available here.
[5] Ibid.
[6] See KISA, Abuse of power is leading detained migrants to desperate acts, 5 April 2016, available here.
[7] CPT, Report to the Government of Cyprus on the visit to Cyprus carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 9 to 17 May 2023, available here.
[8] Information based on monitoring visits carried out by the Cyprus Refugee Council.
[9] Ibid.
[10] CPT, Report to the Government of Cyprus on the visit to Cyprus carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 23 September to 1 October 2013, CPT/Inf (2014) 31, 9 December 2014, available here.
[11] Information based on monitoring visits carried out by the Cyprus Refugee Council.
[12] Information based on monitoring visits carried out by the Cyprus Refugee Council.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ombudsman, Έκθεση ως Εθνικός Μηχανισμός Πρόληψης των Βασανιστηρίων αναφορικά με την επίσκεψη που διενεργήθηκε στα Αστυνομικά Κρατητήρια Ορόκλινης στις 30 Νοεμβρίου 2017, ΕΜΠ 2.17, 3 April 2018.
[15] Ombudsman, Report regarding his to the Paphos Police Detention Centre on 1 September 2020, 24 September 2020, available in Greek here.
[16] ECtHR, Haghilo v. Cyprus (47920/12), 26 March 2019, available here.
[17] CPT, Report to the Government of Cyprus on the visit to Cyprus carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 1 to 4 April 2025, available here.
[18] CPT, Report to the Government of Cyprus on the visit to Cyprus carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 9 to 17 May 2023, available here.
[19] Ombudsman’s Office, Report dated 9 April 2024, available in Greek here; Philnews, The Limassol detention centers are in a bad state – Unannounced visit by Lottides, 10 April 2024, available in Greek here.
[20] CPT, Report to the Government of Cyprus on the visit to Cyprus carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 1 to 4 April 2025, available here.
[21] CPT, Report to the Government of Cyprus on the visit to Cyprus carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 9 to 17 May 2023, available here.
[22] KISA, improvements regarding detention conditions – significant problems regarding detention and deportation practices, 29 January 2017, available here.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Information based on monitoring visits carried out by the Cyprus Refugee Council.
[26] CPT, Report to the Government of Cyprus on the visit to Cyprus carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 9 to 17 May 2023, available here.
[27] Article 23 Rights of Persons who are Arrested and Detained Law.
[28] Article 30 Rights of Persons who are Arrested and Detained Law.
[29] CPT, Reports to the Government of Belgium on the visit to Belgium carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrating Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 7 to 10 November 2022, 13 July 2023, available here. See also, ECRE, Elena Weekly Legal Update (EWLU) of 8 September 2023, available here.
[30] Articles 18 and 25 Rights of Persons who are Arrested and Detained Law.
[31] Information based on monitoring visits carried out by the Cyprus Refugee Council.
[32] Ibid.
[33] Ibid.