Greek asylum camps should be evacuated, says MSF | News | DW | 22.11.2019

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Greek asylum camps should be evacuated, says MSF

Migrants housed in Greece's island camps are living "in utter chaos and without any dignity," Doctors Without Borders says. The charity described one camp on Chios where 300 people are forced to share a single toilet.

A child stands outside a tent on Lesbos

Aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) called Friday for migrants to be transferred immediately from overcrowded camps on Greece's Aegean islands to the European mainland.

Following a visit to the islands of Chios and Lesbos, MSF chief Christos Christou told reporters in Athens that the camps resembled the worst humanitarian sites in the world and should be closed down.

Read more: Beyond capacity, Greek island refugee camps get more packed

The centers were initially built to house a total of 6,200 people, but numbers have ballooned to almost six times that.

He said that "35,000 people live in utter chaos and without any dignity on the Greek islands," adding that on Chios, 300 people were sharing just one toilet.

Watch video 04:06

Greece begins moving refugees from Lesbos to mainland

Misery and squalor

Christou said many residents who had been through torture and abuse, or who were struggling with mental illness, were exposed to degrading camp conditions without getting the right care.

"They receive no help and instead of improving, their condition deteriorates," he said.

Read more: How the EU-Turkey refugee deal works

Greece is a key transit point for migrants hoping to reach the European Union from neighboring Turkey.

The camps on the five islands of Lesbos, Chios, Kos, Samos and Lerisos were set up to process asylum claims under a 2016 deal between the EU and Turkey to curb migrant arrivals.

According to the UN refugee agency, almost 50,000 migrants have reached the Greek islands so far this year. 

Watch video 03:35

Greek migrant camp buckles under huge number of arrivals

Greece toughens migration stance 

In a bid to restrict numbers further, Greece's conservative government this week announced plans to boost border control and speed up deportations of migrants not eligible for asylum.

Athens wants to shut the overcrowded island camps and replace them with smaller, more restrictive detention centers. Asylum-seekers would be held at the camps until they are either granted refugee status or sent back to Turkey if they are rejected.

In the next few weeks, Greece plans to move up to 20,000 people to the mainland.

MSF chief Christou criticized the measures, saying NGOs would have no access to the new centers, while people detained there would not be able to leave.

They "may become prisons at the end of the day, and will not treat people as humans. They will treat them as problems," he said.

  • Aerial view of Moria's hotspot

    Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

    A view from above

    Moria refugee camp has a capacity of 3,000. Currently, some 14,500 refugees are squeezed into the infamous refugee camp, Greece's largest reception and identification center.

  • Two girls in the Moira refugee camp

    Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

    Deep wounds

    A large majority of those who live in Moria have been deemed as vulnerable and are in need of immediate medical assistance. This girl from Gaza, who lives with her family in a tent in the olive grove outside Moria, was severely injured when an Israeli rocket hit her home.

  • A group of refugees arriving in Lesbos

    Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

    A false dawn?

    In August more than 2,800 people arrived in dinghies on the island of Lesbos. A boat carrying 40 people was brought into the port of Skala Sikamineas after it was intercepted by Frontex, the EU's border agency. Eight women and 18 children, including five unaccompanied minors, were on board along with 14 men, all from Afghanistan.

  • A policeman at the docks in Lesbos supervising a group of refugees

    Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

    The wait begins

    After the women and children have been transferred to a transit camp, 18 men wait to be taken away to the same camp by the authorities. Volunteers with the NGO Lighthouse relief assist the authorities in providing food and water to those who have recently arrived.

  • A woman in a refugee camp making bread

    Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

    Keeping the tradition alive

    An Afghan woman makes bread in a makeshift underground oven which she then sells for €1 ($1.10) to other refugees. Due to deteriorating conditions and food provisions that are below standard quality many refugees who remain for long in the camp of Moria have found new ways to pass the day and remember home.

  • A young man awaiting medical attention in a clinic

    Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

    A soothing hand

    Countless refugees need urgent medical attention. Doctors without Borders operate an emergency clinic opposite Moria for the most urgent cases, as the main camp currently only has one doctor and the hospital of Mytilene is overwhelmed and in some cases unwilling to treat refugees.

  • A pile of life jackets next to two boats

    Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

    Discarded dreams

    A "graveyard" of life jackets and boats on the island's north is a stark reminder of the last huge influx of refugees in 2015/16. Lesbos has been at the center of the refugee crisis for years as thousands of people have landed on its shores. Currently there are more than 11,000 refugees spread across the islands. That number is expected to rise sharply by the end of the year.

  • A group of refugees carrying their belongings

    Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

    Monotonous routine

    Waiting in line has become the main daily activity for those stuck in Moria limbo — even for children. Some wait for hours in order to receive food and water.

  • A group of refugees preparing to board a boat

    Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

    From the frying pan into the fire

    A group of refugees prepares to board a ship which will take them to mainland Greece. After the sudden arrival of 600 people in one night, the Greek government decided to transfer 1,400 people to the mainland. Most were taken to the camp of Nea Kavala in a remote village in northern Greece.

    Author: Dimitris Tosidis (Moira refugee camp)


nm/sms (Reuters, dpa)

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