Friday

9th Jun 2023

EU: Athens can handle Covid outbreak at Greek camp

  • 20 people at the Ritsona refugee camp near Athens have tested positive (Photo: Ritsona Refugee Camp)

The European Commission says Greece will be able to manage a Covid-19 outbreak at a refugee camp near Athens.

"I think they can manage," Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for home affairs, told MEPs on Thursday (2 April).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The outbreak is linked to the Ritsona camp of some 2,700 people who are all now under quarantine.

At least 23 have been tested positive without showing any symptoms. Greek authorities had identified the first case after a woman from the camp gave birth at a hospital earlier this week.

"This development confirms the fact that this fast-moving virus does not discriminate and can affect both migrant and local communities," Gianluca Rocco, who heads the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Greece, said in a statement.

Another six cases linked to local residents have also been identified on the Greek islands.

Notis Mitarachi, Greece's minister of migration and asylum, said there are no confirmed cases of the disease in any of the island refugee camps.

"We have only one affected camp, that is on the mainland, very close to Athens where 20 people have tested positive," he said.

Over 40,000 migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are stuck on the islands. Of those, some 20,000 are in Moria, a camp on Lesbos island that is designed to house only 3,000.

It is unlikely conditions will improve any time soon with Mitarachi noting major changes will only take place before the year's end. He said the construction of new camps on the mainland first have to be completed.

"We do not have rooms in the mainland," he said, when pressed on why there have been no mass evacuations from the islands.

He placed some of the blame on the EU-Turkey deal, noting anyone transferred to the mainland cannot be returned to Turkey. Turkey has since the start of March refused to accept any returns given the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the deal, Mitarachi noted 10,000 people had still been transferred to the mainland so far this year. He also insisted all measures are being taken to ensure the safety of the Greek island camp refugees.

In reality, Moria has one functioning faucet per 1,300 people. A lockdown also has been imposed, making any notions of social distancing impossible.

He said all new arrivals from Turkey are separated and kept away from the camps. Special health units will also be dispatched into the camps to test for cases, he said.

Mitarachi is demanding other EU states help take in people, to ease the pressure.

Eight EU states had in early March pledged to take in 1,600 unaccompanied minors. The Commission says it expects the first relocations to take place before Easter at the latest.

The money

Greece has also been earmarked some €700m of EU funds to help in the efforts.

The first €350m has already been divided up.

Around €190m will go to paying rental accommodation for 25,000 beds on the mainland and provide cash assistance to 90,000 people under the aegis of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

Another €100m will go to 31 camps run by the International Organization for Migration. Approximately €25m will go to help families and kids on the islands through the UNHCR.

And €35m is set to help relocate others out of the camps and into hotels.

The remaining €350m will go to building five new migrant centres (€220m), help pay for returns (€10m), support the Greek asylum service (€50m), enforce borders (€50m), and give an additional €10m each to Frontex and the EU's asylum agency, Easo.

Coronavirus: Greek island refugees in semi-lockdown

Greece has banned large pubic gatherings to curb the spread of the coronavirus, while imposing a curfew on thousands of asylum seekers and migrants living in misery in overcrowded camps, with one water tap for 1,300 people at one camp.

Berlin ready to airlift Greek island refugees

Berlin's justice minister Dirk Behrendt has said the city is ready to airlift up to 1,500 asylum seekers and refugees stuck on the Greek islands, as German activists collect money to pay for the evacuation.

Refugees across Europe help fight the pandemic

From the Netherlands to Italy, refugees and asylum seekers are stepping forward to help in the fight against the pandemic. Some are trained doctors, others are cleaners, while others help out the homeless on Europe's streets.

Opinion

Migrant healthcare must not be forgotten during Covid-19

Previous claims that migrants bring communicable diseases to host countries have been debunked by a review of the existing evidence carried out earlier this year. In fact, migrants are currently more at risk of contracting Covid-19 from Europeans.

Analysis

Final steps for EU's due diligence on supply chains law

Final negotiations on the EU due diligence law begin this week. But will this law make companies embed due diligence requirements in their internal processes or incentive them to outsource their obligations to third parties?

Latest News

  1. Belgian bâtonnier on Russia: 'You can have a client you don't like'
  2. EU's proposed ethics body 'toothless', say campaigners
  3. Study: 90% of Spanish inflation 'driven by corporate profits'
  4. If Spanish economy is doing well, why is Sanchez poised to lose?
  5. EU lawyers for Russia: making 'good' money?
  6. The 'BlackRock exemption' has no place in the EU's due diligence directive
  7. Europeans don't see China as a rival, but weapons to Russia is a red line
  8. Cleaning workers urge Parliament: 'Europe should lead by example'

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  2. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  3. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  4. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains
  2. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  3. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us