Greece - Over 46,000 people stranded in appalling conditions due to border closures

Source : www.picum.org

« According to a new report from Amnesty International, ‘Trapped in Greece : An avoidable refugee crisis’, at least 46,000 people are stranded in mainland Greece in appalling conditions since the closure of the Balkan route. The report, published on 18 April, notes that while systems and resources have been put in place in the last few months to ensure that arriving refugees and migrants are finger-printed and screened by the police to determine their nationality, not enough has been done to prepare Greece for the longer-term reception of large numbers of asylum seekers – despite the increase of this number being a foreseeable consequence of the closure of the Balkan route. While Greece has opened 31 temporary accommodation sites on the mainland, with capacity for some 33,000 asylum seekers and migrants, the conditions in many of these overcrowded, under-resourced facilities are inadequate for all but a few days.
As well as material reception conditions, major concerns outlined include limitations regarding : the provision of information to people on their rights and the processes available to them ; access to the asylum system ; and the identification of particular vulnerabilities, as well as detention, particularly of unaccompanied children.
Amnesty also notes that, according to the European Commission data of 12 April 2016, only 615 of the 66,400 asylum-seekers pledged to be relocated from Greece in September 2015 had been transferred to another EU member state. The report concludes with recommendations to the Greek authorities to improve reception conditions for all, increase the capacity of the asylum service, ensure systematic provision of information, prohibit and end the detention of children, and distribute funds from the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund to non-governmental organisations providing essential services ; as well as recommendations to other EU member states to use all available means to accept asylum seekers currently in Greece (relocation, family relocation, visas). The border closures, in particular in the absence of relocation, is seen to place responsibility on the EU and its member states for the situation of migrants and refugees in Greece. Read the report here. A report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in March 2016, similarly denounces the current humanitarian crisis in Greece and particularly in the Athens port of Piraeus. HRW interviewed over 45 migrants who arrived between 8 and 22 March 2016. According to the report, the living conditions in Piraeus are unsafe, unsanitary and insecure. The daily management of the camp is conducted by volunteers and medical aid is provided by aid groups. Accessing basic necessities is particularly difficult for persons with disabilities. Insecurity and fear has led to a very tense situation with increasing risk of sexual harassment and violence. »