GREECE TO ACT ON OVERCROWDING AT REFUGEE CAMP
▶ NGOs say an ‘emergency of unprecedented scale’ is unfolding on Lesbos where 9,000 live in space for 3,000
Two thousand asylum seekers will be moved from the island of Lesbos to the Greek mainland by the end of the month, authorities said yesterday after local officials threated to close the camps to end overcrowding.
The announcement followed calls by human rights groups and local authorities to improve the living conditions of about 9,000 refugees in the Moria camp, which was designed to host 3,000.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) claimed sub-standard living conditions had led many – including children and young adults – to self-harm and suicide attempts.
The organisation spoke of an “emergency of unprecedented scale” and called on authorities to urgently move vulnerable refugees.
A spokesman for the Ministry for Migration Policy told The National last week that action would be taken to reduce the numbers in the camp. As part of a controversial EU-Turkey deal, Greece is able to relocate only asylum seekers judged vulnerable to the mainland, while the others must be kept on the island to await deportation to Turkey.
Christiana Kalogirou, the Governor of the North Aegean – to which Lesbos belongs – issued an ultimatum last week, calling on the government to take action within 30 days or face the camp’s closure. In a note, Ms Kalogiru cited “uncontrollable amounts of waste” and broken sewerage pipes as causes for concern about public health.
In the main area of Moria camp, 72 people share one functioning toilet and 84 people share one functioning shower. This is well below the recommended humanitarian standard in emergency situations.
The camp descended into chaos over the summer, with regular clashes and incidents of sexual violence affecting the precarious mental health of many residents, according to human rights organisations.
Separately, the conditions of asylum seekers in Hungary have also been found to be in breach of European standards. In a report yesterday, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) demanded that Hungarian authorities put an end to the pushbacks of asylum seekers to the Serbian side of the border.
Refugees attempting to cross into Hungary are deprived of any individual assessment on the risks faced in case of expulsions – a procedure envisaged by the 1951 UN Refugee Convention as well as by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Hungary should examine each case “on the basis of an objective and independent analysis of the human rights situation in the countries concerned”, the report said.
Seventy-nine cases of expulsions of asylum seekers from Hungary to Serbia were documented in less than two weeks by the CPT last December.
The report came on the heels of an EU vote in favour of triggering an Article 7 sanction procedure, as a result of Hungary’s perceived breach of EU values including “human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights”.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban defended his country before the vote on September 12, saying that Hungary was being penalised for choosing not to become “a country of refugees”.
In June, the Hungarian parliament approved laws which criminalised efforts to help migrants. Amnesty International’s Europe director, Gauri van Gulik, responded to the move at the time saying that Hungary was becoming “the most hostile territory for asylum seekers and refugees in Europe”.
Although the Hungarian authorities co-operated with the report, Budapest “simply denied the delegation’s findings” when asked to make changes, the report said.
Since 2015, Hungary implemented a new accelerated procedure at its border to further speed up the processing of asylum applications. In addition, three new criminal offences punishable by prison or expulsion were introduced – namely illegally crossing the border barrier, damaging the border barrier and obstructing its construction or maintenance.