NGOs Slam Migrants' 'Containment' On Greek Islands As Athens Denies Negligence Accusations

Prominent international non-governmental organizations (NGO) have recently renewed criticism of the "policy of containment" of migrants in overcrowded "hotspot" camps on the Greek islands, with Athens firing back at the accusations of mishandling

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2019) Prominent international non-governmental organizations (NGO) have recently renewed criticism of the "policy of containment" of migrants in overcrowded "hotspot" camps on the Greek islands, with Athens firing back at the accusations of mishandling the issue and describing itself as the only EU country that has genuinely assumed responsibility for asylum seekers arriving in Europe.

In March 2016, Turkey and the European Union agreed on a deal under which Ankara pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in Greece through its territory in exchange for the accommodation of Syrian refugees in Europe on a one-for-one basis.

As Monday marked the third anniversary of the deal, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) issued a statement, voicing alarm over the plight of some 12,000 people, who are awaiting decisions on their asylum claims in the "containment" centers on the Greek islands, while being effectively "trapped" in degrading conditions.

The damning statement came as an EU internal report, cited by the Welt Am Sonntag newspaper last week, described the situation at the migrant center on the Greek island of Samos as "a shame for Europe." The newspaper added that its own inquiry confirmed "the catastrophic situation" in the camps.

TRAPPED IN 'INHUMANE CONDITIONS' BY MOVEMENT RESTRICTIONS

In a comment to Sputnik, the head of the MSF mission in Greece, Emmanuel Goue, clarified that conditions in the Vathy hotspot on Samos island "have drastically" deteriorated due to severe overcrowding and lack of access to medical aid and slammed Greek authorities and the EU for "chronic and systematic failure" to provide "safe, hygienic and dignified conditions" for migrants.

"Right now there are more than 4,200 people living in a space designed for about 649[,] most of whom are living in summer tents or under plastic sheeting and surrounded by rubbish and mice in the area outside the official hotspot. Almost half are women and kids. These people do not have toilets or access to clean water and were barely given a blanket when they arrived," Goue told Sputnik.

He noted that people "not only live in inhumane conditions but are unable to leave the island due to the containment policies of the EU-Turkey deal until their asylum claim is processed," with appointments for some of them scheduled for 2021.

According to Goue, due to the poor hygiene conditions, scabies and other skin diseases are "rampant" in the camp, with the situation on other islands being no much better.

The Oxfam charity, which works on the island of Lesvos, confirms the dismal picture in the camps.

"In Lesvos, thousands of asylum seekers were forced to spend the winter in unheated tents or overcrowded containers with limited access to running water and electricity. People are exposed to substandard living conditions, ongoing violence, harassment and exploitation and have very limited access to basic services such as doctors and lawyers," Advocacy Officer for Oxfam in Greece Marion Bouchetel told Sputnik.

NGOs DEMAND EVACUATION, 'FAIR' ASYLUM SYSTEM

Bouchetel suggested that the "shameful" situation was a direct result of the "short-sighted" EU policies implemented in Greece under the EU-Turkey deal and demanded that movement restrictions trapping refugees on Greek Islands be immediately lifted.

"The restriction of movement that traps asylum seekers on the Greek islands in squalid and dangerous conditions should be suspended urgently, and EU leaders should ensure that Greece spends the available EU funding on essential services such as medical and legal services. Finally, the EU should support the planning of a fair and efficient asylum system and a long-term and sustainable reception and integration plan for refugees in Greece," she said.

Bouchetel also pointed to "chronic understaffing" of the EU "hotspot" camps that has been hindering the asylum processing. She suggested that the Greek government, with the support of the EU Commission, should deploy additional staff to the centers but warned against accelerating the procedures "at the expense of basic rights and safeguards."

Goue, in his turn, reiterated MSF's call for the "emergency evacuation of the most vulnerable people from the Greek hotpots to safe accommodation on the Greek mainland and other EU states."

ATHENS: NO OTHER EU NATION TOOK MORE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MIGRANTS

The Greek Migration Ministry, meanwhile, has categorically dismissed accusations, arguing that Athens has never shied away from the responsibility for migrants, unlike some other countries, and "has been doing its best" to process incoming asylum claims.

"We totally reject any accusation on [low] responsibility because if somebody took responsibility on the issue of migration and refugees arriving in Europe, it was Greece. Greece has the most advanced and most complicated system of reception and accommodation by far," the ministry's spokesman, Alexis Bouzis, told Sputnik.

According to the ministry, the situation on Samos is indeed quite difficult because "the flows of migrants" are still arriving, despite Turkey's pledge to keep them on its territory under the 2016 deal.

"The thing now is that we have a certain facility there, a certain center for identification and reception, which has a certain capacity. When flows [of people] are big, more people arrive, the examination is taking longer. So more people stay and conditions become worse," the spokesman explained.

He argued that Greece had "the most advanced reception and accommodation system," with 26 migration centers on the mainland, five on the islands and one at the land border with Turkey.

Meanwhile, these are exactly the camps on Lesvos and Samos that regularly draw criticism, he emphasized, adding that the reason for that is that these islands serve as the main entry points for migrants fleeing for Europe via Greece.

"The thing is that Lesvos is the biggest island in the North of the Aegean and for that it is the biggest door. It becomes the biggest road to enter Greece. So from time to time it gets overcrowded," Bouzis explained.

Greece, nevertheless, sticks to all European and international regulations on protection of human rights in handling the migration issues and processes every asylum claim individually, he maintained.

ONLY DUBLIN REGULATION REFORM COULD BE PERMANENT SOLUTION

Bouzis stressed that the situation in the camps was not a Greek, but a European problem that required a European solution.

"What we are asking for is a fair share of responsibility, a fair share of this burden. So we totally reject all those accusations especially if they are from the countries that have not received even one refugee, even one person," he said.

According to the Greek official, Athens sees a relocation scheme as the only viable and "permanent" solution to resolve the situation around its overcrowded camps and needs more solidarity from the European Union in tackling the challenge, rather than just money.

A number of EU members, however, block the reform of the Dublin Regulation, which allows for migrants to be sent back to the country where they first entered the continent, he recalled, hinting that it is actually the same nations that refuse to take in "even one refugee."