Coronavirus surfaces in Greek migrant camp

April 02, 2020

Greece’s Migration and Asylum Ministry placed the Ritsona camp near Athens under quarantine for two weeks on Thursday after 21 of its residents tested positive for the coronavirus. The first case was a mother who gave birth last week.

Her infection, identified in an Athens hospital, 75 kilometers (47 miles) away, is the first recorded case at the overcrowded camps across Greece.

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johannson told DW that the European Commission was “working very hard now to set up an emergency response action plan together with Greek authorities.”

Now in place, the aim was to evacuate “the most vulnerable people, sick people, out of the camps to safe areas like hotel rooms that are available right now,” said Johannson.

Medical staff and equipment were being made available for Greek authorities and bodies such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UNHCR refugee agencies, she told DW.

“We all are responsible to show practical solidarity towards Greece and the migrants,” added Johannson, who separately during a European Parliament video link had described the Ritsona outbreak as a “warning signal.”

Read and watch the entire interview here.

Extra medical staff, supplies sent

Access to Ritsona had been restricted, according to Greek authorities, who added that extra medical staff and food would be sent to people in the camp. As yet staff in the camps has not been infected.

Greece currently has some 100,000 asylum-seekers, including 40,000 at island camps. The country is seen as a “gateway to Europe” for people fleeing conflicts and poverty in the Middle East and beyond.

Aid agencies are clamoring for more concerted action. “It is urgently needed to evacuate migrants out of the Greek islands to EU countries,” said Caritas Europe’s advocacy officer Leila Bodeux.

‘Immediate removal,’ demands islands’ governor

Constantinos Moutzouris, governor of three Aegean islands, said the “immediate removal” of camp residents was imperative to avert potential viral spread.

Greece, with its population of 11 million people, on Thursday recorded 1,415 cases of infection and 50 deaths from the lung-disabling condition known as COVID-19.

The government in Athens has ruled out moving migrants en masse to the Greek mainland.

Read more: Greece exploits coronavirus in refugee dispute with Turkey

Camp children ‘being transferred’

Johansson, asked by DW about the fate of hundreds of unaccompanied minors inside camps, said that eight EU member states were “ready to welcome” the children.

“I do hope that the first relocation will take place in the coming week so that they are now being transferred to transit centers where they are also being tested for the coronavirus, and prepared for the relocation to these member states,” she said.

Johannson said Brussels was liaising with Greece and UN organizations to relieve pressure “by relocating people out of these camps and also to return people.”

Greece ‘basically on its own’

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged the EU to provide more assistance to keep the coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 away from island camps.

“The conditions are far from ideal,” Mitsotakis told CNN. “But I should also point out that Greece is dealing with this problem basically on its own…We haven’t had as much support from the European Union as we wanted.”

Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

A view from above

Moria refugee camp has a capacity of 3,000. Currently, some 14,500 refugees are squeezed into the infamous refugee camp, Greece’s largest reception and identification center.

Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

Deep wounds

A large majority of those who live in Moria have been deemed as vulnerable and are in need of immediate medical assistance. This girl from Gaza, who lives with her family in a tent in the olive grove outside Moria, was severely injured when an Israeli rocket hit her home.

Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

A false dawn?

In August more than 2,800 people arrived in dinghies on the island of Lesbos. A boat carrying 40 people was brought into the port of Skala Sikamineas after it was intercepted by Frontex, the EU’s border agency. Eight women and 18 children, including five unaccompanied minors, were on board along with 14 men, all from Afghanistan.

Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

The wait begins

After the women and children have been transferred to a transit camp, 18 men wait to be taken away to the same camp by the authorities. Volunteers with the NGO Lighthouse relief assist the authorities in providing food and water to those who have recently arrived.

Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

Keeping the tradition alive

An Afghan woman makes bread in a makeshift underground oven which she then sells for €1 ($1.10) to other refugees. Due to deteriorating conditions and food provisions that are below standard quality many refugees who remain for long in the camp of Moria have found new ways to pass the day and remember home.

Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

A soothing hand

Countless refugees need urgent medical attention. Doctors without Borders operate an emergency clinic opposite Moria for the most urgent cases, as the main camp currently only has one doctor and the hospital of Mytilene is overwhelmed and in some cases unwilling to treat refugees.

Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

Discarded dreams

A “graveyard” of life jackets and boats on the island’s north is a stark reminder of the last huge influx of refugees in 2015/16. Lesbos has been at the center of the refugee crisis for years as thousands of people have landed on its shores. Currently there are more than 11,000 refugees spread across the islands. That number is expected to rise sharply by the end of the year.

Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

Monotonous routine

Waiting in line has become the main daily activity for those stuck in Moria limbo — even for children. Some wait for hours in order to receive food and water.

Moria refugee camp: A new kind of hell awaits

From the frying pan into the fire

A group of refugees prepares to board a ship which will take them to mainland Greece. After the sudden arrival of 600 people in one night, the Greek government decided to transfer 1,400 people to the mainland. Most were taken to the camp of Nea Kavala in a remote village in northern Greece.

Author: Dimitris Tosidis (Moira refugee camp)