Greece exploits coronavirus in refugee dispute with Turkey

April 01, 2020

In retrospect, it seems that residents of Greece’s eastern border regions were justifiably skeptical about the initial surge of displaced people arriving from Turkey. According to media reports, Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the BND, suspects that Turkey’s government brought displaced people en masse to the border and attempted to incite conflicts between refugees and officials in Greece — in fact, the buses used to remove refugees were the same ones that brought them there in the first place.

On Turkey’s border with Bulgaria, there was no activity at all. It would seem that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was only interested in agitating Greece, where he had hoped to escalate the already tense situation on the islands by inflaming nationalists.

Erdogan’s plan was to blackmail the European Union by showing just how broken its asylum policies truly are. He did so with the aim of forcing NATO partners to back him in his most recent military incursion into Syria. Media outlets from around the world offered him a stage. Tensions between the militaries of Turkey and Greece flared. But the novel coronavirus scuttled his plans. Once the world’s reporters left, Erdogan was forced into retreat. The virus, it seems, has solved the troubling situation at the border — at least for the moment.

Read more: How are Middle East refugee camps prepared for coronavirus?

‘Life is hard’

Official statistics put the number of refugees in Turkey at about 4 million, but it is estimated that there are far more. According to Athens, about 100,000 asylum applicants are currently in Greece, with 40,000 of them on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Leros and Kos. One of them is 20-year-old Somaya, from Afghanistan. She lives in a weatherproof shelter in the official Moria refugee camp — a luxury that few here have. “It is very cold right now,” Somaya said. “Life is hard. It has rained a lot.”

Read more: Pandemic could create global food shortage

About 21,000 displaced people live in the ramshackle thicket of tents and cardboard known as the Jungle, which has sprouted up around the official Moria camp on Lesbos. Right now, many of them are worried about the coronavirus. “We have hardly any water, and refugees here have no idea what is going on,” Somaya said. “Do they run the risk of infection? I am worried.” But she also wants to help, so she volunteers for Team Humanity, a Danish aid group that distributes food and clothing to displaced people at the Hope Peace Center near the camp. Face masks sewn at the camp are handed out at the center, as well as soap and hygiene instructions.

In March, Greece’s government issued a 12-point plan for dealing with the coronavirus in camps for displaced people. As a result, visits and activities within the camps have been canceled and residents can only move around the camps when absolutely necessary. Only one member of each family is allowed to shop outside the camps. Special police buses take them to prearranged shops. All camps are under a general curfew from 9 p.m. The new rules also ban refugees from withdrawing cash from ATMs in nearby villages. The government has said it will install ATMs at the camps, but there has been no word on exactly when that will happen.

Moria: Coronavirus (Reuters/E. Marcou)

Team Humanity volunteers make masks for residents of the overcrowded Moria camp

Unclear rules

Representatives of Greece’s government refused to answer direct questions about hygiene measures, coronavirus testing and possible evacuation plans posed by DW. Instead, DW received a copy of the previously published 12-point plan.

Read more: Germany extends social distancing restrictions until April 19

Point No. 5 on the list warns people in the camp to abide by hygiene rules. Apostolos Veizeis, of the group Doctors Without Borders, wonders how they are supposed to do that. “The camps are all way over capacity,” he said. “The situation is ideal for the spread of COVID-19. Garbage hasn’t been picked up for months. More than 1,300 people have to share one water spigot. And most don’t even have access to water, electricity or toilets — instead they go to the bathroom outside.”

Veizeis said the government’s rules were hypocritical — put in place to reassure Greeks from the affected regions and discriminate against people stuck in the camps, leaving asylum applicants totally unprotected. He said older people and at-risk individuals would need to be evacuated from the camps immediately. There are only five intensive care beds on the whole island of Lesbos, he said, and just two on Samos. Greece’s Health Ministry has dispatched just three doctors to care for the Moria camp’s 20,000-plus inhabitants. That may seem bad enough, but the doctors also lack most medicine and equipment, too.

Greece’s government has instrumentalized the pandemic, Veizeis said. “If they come out and say now is the time to be careful and the best thing would be to move refugees to closed shelters,’ then they would just be trying once again to finally put that old idea into action,” he added.

Read more: Coronavirus in sewage foreshadowed outbreak in Dutch city

Previous attempts to move displaced people to closed shelters have been met with outrage by rights organizations, the European Union and even residents of the affected regions. Thus, it appears that, at a time when Turkey’s government is hitting the brakes, Greece’s has decided to forge on ahead. So far, no coronavirus cases have been diagnosed within the camps for displaced people. But Veizeis remains concerned. “If the virus breaks out in one of the refugee camps,” he said, “it will be catastrophic.”

South Africa: Impressions from a country in lockdown.

Johannesburg is staying home

At an apartment building in Hillbrow, an inner city suburb of Johannesburg, residents looked on as police on the streets tried to enforce the nationwide lockdown

South Africa: Impressions from a country in lockdown.

Keeping each other at arm’s length

In front of a supermarket in Yeoville, Johannesburg, social distancing measures still have room for improvement. Since March 27, strict measures have been implemented to contain the spread of the coronavirus in South Africa.

South Africa: Impressions from a country in lockdown.

New seating arrangements at the shops

In a shopping center close to Pretoria, chairs are spaced far apart to ensure that customers can maintain a safe distance from one another while they wait. Only food and other essentials can be bought and sold countrywide.

South Africa: Impressions from a country in lockdown.

No gatherings, no alcohol

The government has put a stop to public gatherings of all kinds in South Africa — and banned the sale of alcohol and cigarettes. But not everyone got the message: Eight men ended up at the police station in Johannesburg over game of cards.

South Africa: Impressions from a country in lockdown.

Military deployed to residential areas

The South African National Defence Force was sent to patrol the country’s streets. Soldiers will be given police powers during the lockdown, President Ramaphosa said.

South Africa: Impressions from a country in lockdown.

Strong-arm measures

Reports suggest that police and security forces have used tear gas and rubber bullets on those who defy the lockdown. Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has condemned the violence and warned of consequences.

South Africa: Impressions from a country in lockdown.

Protection for the homeless

A homeless woman was seen being escorted by the police and taken to a meeting point in central Johannesburg. The government had announced that safe accommodation would be provided to all homeless people during the lockdown.

South Africa: Impressions from a country in lockdown.

Everything is coming to a halt

The train depot in downtown Johannesburg is full as rail travel has been canceled for the duration of the lockdown. Taxis and buses are still allowed to operate under certain conditions and to transport essential services staff.

South Africa: Impressions from a country in lockdown.

Lockdown until mid-April

The COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa is expected to continue until at least April 17. The Heatlh Ministry has put the number of confirmed cases at 1,353 so far. However, mass testing will be carried out in the coming days, according to President Ramaphosa.

Author: Jan Philipp Wilhelm