Where Did the People in the Greek Refugee Camps Come From?
October 2021 | the confinement of refugees becomes more invisibile, less 'newsworthy'
A new large-scale, isolated camp in Samos. After five years of systematic overcrowding - with a facility set up to host about 650 people and a population that at times have reached 8'000 - this year the Greek government has decided to accelerate the issuing of documents lifting the 'geographical restriction' of a large number of asylum seekers on the island. In the first half of 2021 alone, about 3,000 people have been able to leave the island for the mainland, either on their own or as part of official transfers organised by asylum authorities.
Despite human rights defenders and solidarity groups advocating for a long time to see the transfer of refugees away from the underserviced island, the reason behind this sudden change of policy is arguably linked to the EU-funded construction of five new, larger, isolated and highly controlled reception facilities in the five 'hotspot islands'. The location chosen for Samos is the hill area of Zervou, at the centre of the island, with no natural shadow and no natural access to water, far-removed from every inhabited centres and 7 km away from Vathy town, where most civil infrastructures, amenities, solidarity networks and points of interactions can be found.
Finally, on September 18th, the new facility in Samos was 'inaugurated' in the presence of national and European authorities, invited to witness the 'success' of this project that would imply a positive signal for the four other planned facilities still under construction in Lesvos, Chios, Kos and Leros.
As it is known, living conditions are generally set to improve for what concerns the individuals' and families' accommodation in standard isobox containers, which should include cooking stands, refrigeration, air-conditioning, and more basic essentials. However, contrary to the narrative that the government wants to promote, this new camp cannot be considered a 'solution' to the 5-year-long situation on Samos as in the rest of the Aegean.
Humanitarian actors, local solidarity groups, refugee communities as well as the very EU Fundamental Rights Agency have all expressed concerns as regards the curtailment to the freedom of movement, personal liberties and integration prospects that this new facility will represent. Despite insurances that people will be allowed to move in and out freely, this freedom is already hindered by many factors, namely: night curfew from 8AM to 8PM, regular malfunctioning of the surveillance system that regulates the entrance and exit, disproportionate price of bus tickets to reach Vathy town (round trip 3,20€ which represents a large share of the average 70€ of cash assistance people are allowed every month).
In this so-called 'Closed Controlled Access Centre', with an official capacity of about 3,100 once a planned expansion is completed, people are now confined between a double barb wire fence, in prefabricated plastic containers which only compared to half a decade of inhumane living conditions can look like 'dignified accommodation' for people that are seeking protection and asylum in Europe.
On top of everything else, the toll on people's mental health is nowhere acknowledged in the planned reception strategy: the curtailment of people's agency and autonomy only adds onto the impact on their self-esteem at the moment of being 'locked up' and treated 'just like criminals'. For men, women and children that have already been through uncountable traumatic experiences in their long journeys to Europe, to be finally 'welcomed' in such a way only accounts as a new step into what medical organisations have been defined as a real re-traumatisation process.
Samos Volunteers' response. Starting from the month of July, we are renting a piece of land located 5 minutes walk from the new Zervou camp. Setting up a place in the proximity of the new camp will help us ensure continuity in our provision of services to the people confined in this isolated facility. The Alpha Land now allows for a 'welcome area', three classrooms, a women's space and other space for additional activities and projects such as sewing classes, conversation labs, music sessions, bike service, art workshops and much more.
At the same time that we adapt our education and psychosocial support to the new setting, our laundry service will continue to run as much as before. Through the use of a Laundry Van we are now able to reach the camp residents in the new location, receive their laundry bags every morning and bring back their clothes - washed and dried - in the evening.
Unfortunately, this will mean a downscaling of our community spaces in Vathy town, and eventually the closure of one of the two Laundry Stations. For the moment, the Alpha Centre remains open to provide a few drop-in services, women-only activities and afternoon language classes for the people living in Vathy, while starting in November the Alpha Hub will be used by the legal NGOs as a space to meet their clients.
Samos Volunteers will continue its work in Samos for as long as support and aid will be needed. At the same time, we will continue to advocate for the complete end of this practice of mass confinement and surveillance, demanding real protection and sustainable, dignified accommodation solutions for all people seeking asylum in Europe.
We remain attentive and responsive to the overall impact of the situation on the livelihood of the people we support.
If you wish to support our projects as we adapt to the new, changing situation, have a look at our fundraiser page.
See our advocacy page to know more of Samos Volunteers' stands as regards the new camp in Zervos.
2016-2021 | the old 'hotspot' in Vathy
At its closest point, the Greek island of Samos lies barely two kilometres off the coast of Turkey. Much like the islands of Lesvos, Leros, Chios and Kos, this feature makes it a most frequent destination of attempted crossing of people on the move fleeing from many countries of origin. Men, women, and children, families or single people, who sail off on often overfilled plastic dinghies, frequently after being obliged to give in to money extortions and after the traumatic experiences that lead them to Turkey.
Those who succeed to avoid capture by the Turkish Coast Guard and who manage to survive the sea journey find themselves in one of the five 'hotspot' camps established on the five islands by the Greek government. Since the signing of the EU-Turkey deal in March 2016, which dubiously asserts that Turkey is a safe country for those fleeing conflict and persecution, people who apply for asylum have to wait for a decision on their asylum application before they are allowed to move on to the mainland.
In practice, they find themselves stuck in the 'hotspots'. In Samos, people are forced to dwell in the Vathy Reception and Identification Centre (RIC) - or more likely in the premises of the overcrowded structure - for months, some even years, by the slow and heavily bureaucratic asylum process. While few people are allowed to leave by transfer to the mainland, more people arrive every night. Only since March 2020, when the tightening of Greece's borders coincided with the corona pandemic, new arrivals have dropped to zero for the first time in years.
The Samos 'hotspot', established in early 2016 as a former military base with a capacity for 650 people,nearly doubled in size across the years, reaching nearly 4,000 in the beginning of 2019 and almost 8,000 people in December of the same year.
Asylum seekers living in the Vathy RIC most commonly hail from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other conflict ridden countries in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Men account for around 50 percent of the population, and women for 20 percent. One third of the population is under 18, of which approximately 14 percent is unaccompanied or separated, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan.
Since the establishment of the 'hotspot', the population in Vathy nearly doubled in just five years as 8,000 refugees and asylum seekers were forced to find shelter on the island. Locals, who had no vote in the provisions of the EU-Turkey Deal, received little to no support from the national or European governments to uphold the quality of their infrastructure. Many institutions, such as the local hospital, were left crippled by budget cuts by the IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank after the economic crisis and subsequent bailout agreement in 2015.
This has led to tensions between the various communities on the island. As a result, there are regular protests by the Samians demanding the transfer of all asylum facilities to the mainland and the construction of new detention facilities. There also have been protests from frustrated camp residents about their living conditions.
Meanwhile, the living conditions in the Samos camp are atrocious, to say the very least.
Finding shelter is a struggle. In the official camp structure, people sleep in dangerously overfilled containers. Most, however, are forced to set up tents or build a shelter in the unofficial 'Jungle', which doesn't exist on paper but may house as many as 4,000 people. In summer, there is hardly any shade to provide a cool space. During the wet, cold and stormy winter, tents provide inadequate protection against the elements, leaving many vulnerable to infections. The high winds coming from the sea tear down flimsy tents and spread rubbish and waste.
Sanitation and healthcare provision - especially mental health provision - is absolutely insufficient. In such an overcrowded space, parasites such as bed bugs and scabies are rampant, and the camp has rats, snakes and scorpions living among the dirt. There are hardly any toilets and showers, and most of them are broken. Thousands of the world's most vulnerable people, including nearly 2,000 children, have access to only one doctor, one psychologist, and the seriously overwhelmed local hospital. People are provided with camp food, for which they have to queue for hours, which is low in nutrients and more often than not is reported to be expired and moldy.
For people who already are traumatised by their perilous journey and the conflicts they have fled, these conditions expose them to further harm. Living in a severely overcrowded camp without any facilities to support a population of this size causes tensions and frequent outbursts of violence. PTSD and depression are common medical issues in the camp - and, quite tellingly, the 2019 comprehensive reform to the Greek Asylum Law has crossed off PTSD from the list of vulnerabilities that can allow a rapid transfer from islands to the mainland. It is a dangerous place for women and LGBTQI+ people, with cases of gender-and sexual-based violence as well as homo- and transphobic attacks.
Journalists are not allowed to enter the official camp. In a few rare cases, large TV stations were taken on an organised tour along the "best" sections of the camp.
What started out as a humanitarian emergency in 2015 has turned into a long, unending story of suffering. And those responsible for caring for and protecting these people have largely failed to rise to the task.
The Greek Refugee Council (GRC) visited the 'hotspot' in November 2018. In a report that followed, the GRC strongly criticised the ongoing failure of the Greek authorities to address the situation in a humane manner. Not only was the facility inadequate for 'hosting' such a large population—nearly 5,000 in 2018—newcomers were told to provide for the means of their accommodation exclusively by themselves, and many being forced to live outside the facility's premises.
This effectively shifted the state's legal obligation to provide reception conditions to asylum seekers, to beneficiaries themselves.
What we do
Samos Volunteers is one of a handful of NGOs present on the island. In the winter of 2016, as other NFIs distributors stepped in and the emergency became progressively normalised, with the camp being settled on the hills of Vathy mountain, we saw a new need. We stopped the daily distribution of essential items, and began to offer informal educational activities, psycho-social support and a free laundry service. We aim to reduce isolation and instill some sense of normality to the lives of those living in the camp.
Down the road from the camp, the Alpha Centre is the home of our language classes and recreational activities for adults. Besides being an informal education space, we offer an inclusive community area for people to get away from the awful conditions up the hill. Here, everyone is welcome to take some hot tea, charge their phone, read books, play board games and chat with their friends and family. Before COVID-19 limited our capacity, we served around 830 cups of tea per day, or 5,000 cups of tea per week. We estimate that we received five to seven hundred visitors daily.
Around the corner from the Alpha Centre, our Laundry Station is the only place on Samos where camp residents can have their clothes washed and dried professionally for free. We have twelve machines running continuously from 8 AM to 8 PM, five days per week, and until 3:30PM on Saturday. In November 2020, we have reached the record of 40,000 bags of laundry washed since the inauguration of the Station.
Our latest entry, opened in August 2020: the Alpha Hub is an accommodating space with various degrees of privacy where people feel welcome, relaxed and safe. Our own trauma-informed design and layout enhances that harmonious environment. This is specifically the place where our MHPSS programme finds a proper home: a space where we also provide sewing classes, fabrics distribution and workshops, as well as our Women's Safe Space.
Samos Volunteers has somewhat of a central role within the tight-knit community of grassroots NGOs on Samos: together with our colleagues in the humanitarian sector - each one from their particular respective area of work - we try to organise a collective and effective effort for the population of thousands of people in the refugee camp. We have helped many of our partners in establishing themselves in the island, as well as supporting the work of the Samos LGBTQI+ Support Group as part of our protection programme aligning to a comprehensive approach to intersectionality.
Would you like to know more about the services we provide? Have a look at our AJune 2021 Snapshot, at the most recent UNHCR Weekly Snapshot and Biannual Factsheet (February 2021).
How you can help
With these and other projects, we support and empower refugees and asylum seekers during this difficult step of their hazardous, traumatic journeys. We rely on the time and dedication of an amazing group of volunteers, and the generosity of our donors.
Additionally, especially if due to travel restrictions you're not able to come to Samos and volunteer on the ground, you can always contribute to our fundraising effort as well as amplifying our advocacy in your own network. Both supports are extremely precious for the sustainability of our mission in Samos.
Thank you for your support. Thank you for standing with refugees.
Where Did the People in the Greek Refugee Camps Come From?
Source: https://www.samosvolunteers.org/situation-on-samos