MSF Urges EU Leaders To End 'Containment Policy' Against Migrants Trapped On Greek Islands

The Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) international humanitarian organization on Monday called on European leaders to seek out ways and means to end the damaging "policy of containment" and suffering of thousands of migrants stranded in overcrowded camps on the Greek islands and mainland

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2019) The Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) international humanitarian organization on Monday called on European leaders to seek out ways and means to end the damaging "policy of containment" and suffering of thousands of migrants stranded in overcrowded camps on the Greek islands and mainland.

"Today, on the third anniversary of the signing of the EU-Turkey deal, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) calls on European leaders to take action to end the harmful policy of containment on the Greek island 'hotspots.' MSF also urges the immediate evacuation of all vulnerable people, especially children, from these locations to suitable accommodation on the Greek mainland or in other EU Member States," the statement read.

According to the humanitarian organization, for the past three years, the EU-Turkey agreement has "trapped" some 12,000 people in overcrowded and degrading conditions, with limited access to basic health services. This has resulted in a deterioration of their health and caused "widespread misery."

"Greece has become a dumping ground for the men, women and children that the European Union has failed to protect .

.. The EU and Greek authorities continue to rob vulnerable people of their dignity and health, seemingly in an effort to deter others from coming. This policy is cruel, inhumane and cynical, and it needs to end," Emmanuel Goue, the MSF's head of mission in Greece, was quoted as saying in the statement.

On March 18, 2016, the European Union and Turkey reached an agreement that immigrants arriving in Greece would be returned to Turkey if their claim for asylum was rejected, while those in Turkish migrant camps would be resettled in Europe on one-for-one basis.

In June of the same year, the MSF announced it would no longer accept funds from the European Union, opposing "damaging deterrence policies and continued attempts to push people and their suffering away from European shores."

According to MSF, although the total number of migrant arrivals has significantly decreased since 2016, more than 5,000 people have arrived in Greece since the beginning of this year. The vast majority of arrivals are from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Democratic Republic of Congo, and more than half are women and children.