Justice

Solidarity groups and organisations call for urgent action as winter is coming for refugees in Greece

Over 40 solidarity groups and organisations are calling for urgent action from the Greek local and national authorities to prevent more refugees from dying in the cold as winter sets in once again. They expect more groups and organisations to join them over the next days and weeks.

Several places woke up on Thursday 12 October to find their neighbourhoods plastered with the emblematic picture of Moria camp on Lesvos, covered in snow last winter, while the collective has also launched a campaign on social media with the hashtag #opentheislands.

Living conditions in Moria camp have become unbearable over the past month as a dramatic increase in arrivals coincides with a deterioration in the weather and inadequate provision of food, shelter, healthcare and hygiene. Between the 1st and 26th of September 2017, 2,238 people risked their lives crossing the Mytilene Strait from Turkey to Lesvos, while during September 2016, 1068 people made this journey.

We express our deepest concern in relation to the information, complaints and testimonies about violence and abuse by the Hellenic Police in the detention center in Moria, Lesvos. Visual material depicting scenes of violent, inhuman and degrading treatment towards refugees causes disgust, while information about arbitrary arrests is of great concern. In addition, the action of citizens who appear, in the same video, to be attacking and severely beating migrants and refugees, under the tolerance of police officers, raises many questions and requires instant investigation by the competent authorities.