Water

Kos hosts the only pre-removal detention centre on the Eastern Aegean islands. Since January 2020, the Greek authorities have detained nearly every asylum seeker who has arrived on the island of Kos automatically upon arrival. This has historically included survivors of gender-based violence and torture, families with young children, elderly persons, LGBTQIA people, and people suffering from serious physical and mental health conditions. The automatic detention of asylum seekers is illegal under Greek, EU, and international human rights law, and yet the situation on Kos remains relatively unknown.

Over the past five years, an entirely avoidable and predictable policy-driven humanitarian crisis has been unfolding in the Greek islands of Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Leros, and Kos, with devasting consequences for the people trapped there. After fleeing their homes and surviving harrowing journeys to Europe, the indefinite containment, limbo, and systematic violence in Greece further traumatises people seeking protection.

Άρθρο του Παυσανία Καραθανάση (μεταδιδακτορικού ερευνητή στο Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου - ερευνητικό πρόγραμμα Human(c)ity), για το Παρατηρητήριο της Προσφυγικής και Μεταναστευτικής Κρίσης στο Αιγαίο | Αύγουστος 2020.