Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Refugees on Greek islands face daunting winter

  • Refugees on the island of Lesbos. EU commissioner Avramopoulos said a repeat of last winter on the Greek islands must be avoided (Photo: Save the Children)

The European Commission on Wednesday (15 November) defended its migration policy in Greece in the lead up to the winter months, as concerns mount people will be left exposed once again to the elements.

Scenes of asylum seekers in thin tents waking up to deep snow on the Greek islands last year sparked outcry. At least three people died, reportedly from carbon monoxide poisoning, in their effort to keep warm.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

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

... or subscribe as a group

Despite the concerns, EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told MEPs in Strasbourg that outstanding winter weather issues still remain on the Greek islands.

"All housing units should be connected to electricity and further heating appliances should be provided for those housing units that are not equipped," he said.

He also demanded that the Greek authorities set up more pre-fabricated units on the islands.

Greece has received some €1.3 billion from the European Union to address migration and refugee issues. It is by far the biggest recipient of EU home affairs funding.

Greek responsibility

Asked why Greece still has not connected the housing units to electricity despite the money, Avramopoulos told this website that the "responsibility is in the hands definitely of the Greek authorities but also of the NGOs who have to cooperate with the Greek authorities on the ground."

Last week, the mayor of Lesbos, Spyros Galinos, accused Athens of trying to turn the island and other border areas into "concentration camps where all human dignity is denied."

On Tuesday, Galinos announced a general strike next week in protest at the conditions, telling Greek media Kathimerini that the island currently hosts over 8,000 migrants.

That Greece struggles to provide appropriate housing and reception on the islands points to political and administrative mismanagement to deter others from arriving.

But any such message has failed to impress refugees and migrants who continue to leave Turkey in increasingly larger numbers to reach the Aegean islands. Some 4,600 arrived in September alone, up from 3,665 in August.

Altogether, the islands are home to around 13,600 migrants as Athens struggles to send people back to Turkey. EU states have also fallen short in relocating others from the mainland, creating administrative bottlenecks.

The overcrowding is severe.

As of end of October, Lesbos held over 5,500 people but can only house half that number. Many are crammed into tents and containers with little access to proper shelter, health care, food or even water.

Chios had just under 2,000 but can only accommodate 894, Samos had 2,400 but is able to care for 700. Other islands reported smaller figures.

Conditions on the islands remain poor amid continuing reports of suicides, attempted suicides, violence, and psychological traumas.

Children, minors, and women are particularly vulnerable to abuse.

Many have already witnessed war in Syria and elsewhere, struggled in Turkey, and now face further abuse in a European Union member state flush with EU money tailored to address those very same issues.

Last month, dozens of human rights groups and NGOs sent a letter to Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras to condemn the island conditions.

They noted some have remained stuck on the islands for 19 months.

"Forcing asylum seekers to remain in conditions that violate their rights and are harmful to their well-being, health and dignity cannot be justified," they said.

Greek immigration minister Ioannis Mouzalas told reporters earlier this month they may send cruise ships to help ease the overcrowding on the islands.

Asylum conditions on Greek islands 'untenable'

Germany is preparing to send people back to Greece with the EU's blessing, even though the EU commission has described snow-covered migrant camps on Greek islands as "untenable".

UN criticises EU policy in Libya as 'inhuman'

The EU's policy of helping the Libyan coast guard to return people plucked from the sea is "inhuman", says the UN's human rights chief, given that most end up in dire conditions.

Interview

EU asylum chief: The 'future' arrived in 2015

Jose Carreira, the European Asylum Support Office executive director, lays out his vision for an agency on the cusp of becoming much bigger and more powerful.

Asylum seeker stuck almost three years in Moria camp

Anny Nganga, an asylum seeker from DR Congo, has been surviving for almost three years in Moria, a camp on Lesbos island that was recently described as the "single most worrying fundamental rights issue anywhere in the European Union".

Analysis

Election in sight, EU mood music changes on offshoring asylum

Designating a country like Rwanda as 'safe' under EU rules to send an asylum-seeker there requires strict conditions to be met first. But a backdoor clause introduced into EU legislation allows a future commission to strip out those requirements.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us