OXFAM CONDEMNS DECISION TO MOVE MIGRANTS TO ‘UNSAFE’ GREEK CAMP
▶ Vulnerable people are being relocated after a camp on Lesbos was closed
A migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos closed and its residents were moved to a centre ill-equipped to properly care for them, Oxfam said.
Kara Tepe camp was praised by aid organisations for the care and shelter it provided to the most needy people as they arrived on the island.
But about 500 residents have been moved to Mavrovouni, a temporary camp on Lesbos that the charity said was not fit for the purpose.
“The UN and the EU had plans to move all vulnerable people to better accommodation in other parts of Greece, but we learnt last week that around 500 people were transferred to Mavrovouni – a temporary camp that hosts thousands of people in terrible conditions,” Raphael Shilhav, a policy adviser at Oxfam International, told The National.
“We can say confidently that it is wrong to try to hold asylum seekers in confined centres close to the border over long periods of time.”
Lesbos has become home to thousands of migrants fleeing to the EU to escape poverty and violence.
Oxfam said Mavrovouni was made up of fragile tents, hot showers were scarce and only one in three toilets at the site worked.
“The problem is that the majority of people in Kara Tepe were vulnerable, so they needed specific reception conditions,” Mr Shilhav said.
A Greek social worker said the safety of women at the temporary camp was “of particular concern”.
“Women in the camps say they do not feel safe. Some do not feel safe enough to leave their tents to shower, so instead they are bathing inside their tents,” the social worker said.
“For those who have already experienced sexual abuse, the scant support services and sense of fear can be a retraumatisation.”
Mr Shilhav said migrant camps must be upgraded to efficiently and humanely deal with migrants rescued from the Mediterranean.
“What is needed is a reception system for people rescued at sea that facilitates their identification, assesses their immediate needs and helps them meet a doctor, a lawyer and other professionals who can offer support,” he said.
“Then, they should be relocated to other [EU] member states who can help them to integrate into communities and rebuild a healthy life.
“Closed centres where women and families are forced to sleep in flimsy tents run against anything Europe should aim to achieve through its asylum policies.”
Pipka, another camp on Lesbos praised by charities and a site known for dealing with serious migrant cases, closed last October. For many migrants, Kara Tepe was the only remaining option.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) expressed concern that migrants were being moved from Kara Tepe.
“It is devastating to see the health of our patients get worse because they are forced to return to unsafe accommodation,” an MSF representative said.
The UN refugee agency urged the Greek government not to move people from Kara Tepe until a new permanent camp was completed.
The Mavrovouni camp is made up of fragile tents and only one in three toilets at the site works