Migrants brace for winter in Greek island camps

MORIA: Thousands of migrants packed into overcrowded camps on the Greek islands are bracing for winter in conditions that have already driven some there to attempt suicide.

Even those on the list for transfer to the mainland after NGOS exposed the poor conditions there are hoping to make the trip before seasonal rains turn their camp into a ield of mud.

“Why don’t the Greeks do anything when they get a lot of money to take care of us?” asked Jamal, 53, at the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, the biggest in Greece.

His question echoed the frustration of many others stuck in the camp at the government’s apparent inability to provide even the most basic amenities.

Jamal, a Somalian, arrived three weeks ago with his 21-year-old daughter, who is blind and suffers from debilitating hemiplegic migraines. He may be among the lucky few, some two thousand, to beneit from an accelerated transfer to the mainland.

Earlier this month, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported multiple cases of suicide attempts and self-harm among those stuck at the camp, including some children.

Workers at the camp had already threatened to strike in protest at what even the government acknowledged was “near impossible” overcrowding.

But despite a 2016 agreement between Turkey and the European Union, the migrants are continuing to arrive.

For although the islands of Lesbos and Samos, which shelter the biggest migrant camps, are both Greek, they sit just off the Turkish coast, on the eastern side of the Aegean.

Between them they have more than 20,000 refugees and migrants — 8,000 in Moria alone, which is only built to hold 3,000.

Under humanitarian law, most qualify for passage to Greece. Among them is Jamal, who is waiting for his passage to the Greek mainland, due on Oct.8.

In the meantime, he has to make do with an overcrowded tent lined up, like hundreds of others, around the fence delineating the oficial Moria camp.

These places change hands for between 60 and 100 euros ($70-$116), but when the irst rains come they risk transforming the makeshift campsite into a ield of mud.

And already, the cold autumn winds are beginning to bite. In the meantime, he and his fellow migrants complain about the hours they have to spend queueing for poor-quality food every day, about the cold showers and the dirty toilets.