Lesbos

The Greek government is operating “a two-tier refugee response” - one for Ukrainians and one for all other refugees according to a new briefing by the Greek Council for Refugees, Oxfam and Save the Children. 

New report from the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Oxfam sheds light on the inside of the new 43-million-euro migration center on the Greek island of Samos. The report comes ahead of the 6-year anniversary of the EU-Turkey deal, and in the midst of already more than a million people fleeing conflict in Ukraine to seek asylum in EU countries. If ever there was a time to learn from the failures made in Greece, it is now.

Since 2017, there has been an increase in reported pushbacks ranging in the hundreds to the thousands. Despite increased international pressure and outrage, alleged pushbacks continue to persist. They are systematic, and those who speak out against them are criminalised. The latest issue of the Lesbos Bulletin by the Greek Council for Refugees and Oxfam looks at this practice and includes a pushback testimony.  

Greece’s decision to close a good-practice refugee camp must be questioned. The shutting down of Kare Tepe, which functions as an alternative living space, is disappointing especially when the alternative is the unsafe and unsanitary living conditions in Mavrovouni (Moria 2.0).  

Conditions in Moria 2.0 (Mavrovouni) are below the minimum humanitarian standards, yet Europe wants to replicate the policies that caused it. This is according to the latest report, “Tipping the Scales: the role of responsibility and solidarity sharing in the situation on the Greek islands” and the Lesbos bulletin, a February update from the ground by the Greek Council for Refugees and Oxfam.    

The new temporary camp on the Greek island of Lesbos is even worse than the original Moria camp, with inadequate shelter, hardly any running water, limited healthcare services, and no access to legal aid, said the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Oxfam in their latest ‘Lesbos Bulletin’ news update.

The fire in the infamous Moria refugee camp was a fully preventable tragedy and should trigger a U-turn in the EU’s and Greece’ response to the arrival of people seeking asylum in Europe, said Oxfam and the Greek Council for Refugees.

The Greek Asylum Service has issued thousands of rejections to asylum-seekers while its public-facing services were closed for over two months.

The death of a mother in a Greek refugee camp is appalling, and a direct consequence of the EU's migration policies, says Oxfam.

The European Union’s deal with Turkey to control migration and return “irregular” migrants has led to policies and practices in Greece that are short-sighted, unsustainable, ineffective and dangerous, say Oxfam and 24 other NGOs in an open letter ahead of the deal’s third anniversary.