The Greek government inaugurated the first of a new generation of migrant camps on Saturday
Barbed wire, X-ray scanners and magnetic doors: on the Greek island of Samos, the new “closed” camp for migrants, the first of a “new generation” inaugurated on Saturday, looks at first glance like an isolated prison a quarter of a century away. hour’s drive from the main city.
On a plot of more than 12,000 m², bordered by a double line of barbed wire, more than 300 asylum seekers will be transferred there from Monday from the shanty town of Vathy, where they huddled until now at the gates of the city, which will be dismantled and decontaminated.
“From Samos, we are sending a message to all the islands: the images (of unsanitary camps) of Moria (in Lesbos) or Vathy are now a thing of the past,” Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Saturday during the inauguration ceremony of the still empty camp.
Divided into several “neighborhoods”, asylum seekers will have access to dining, sports and games areas, as well as shared kitchens. The dorms have five beds and a wardrobe each, with Turkish toilets and shared showers.
“The new center with controlled and closed access will restore their lost dignity to those seeking international protection, but also the necessary conditions of protection and detention for illegal migrants who must be returned,” added the Minister.
Detention for rejected asylum seekers
Within the camp, a detention center has been planned for all migrants who have been refused asylum and doomed to be returned to Turkey. Likewise on the island of Leros, where a camp of this type should be completed next month and on that of Kos, immediately after.
In Lesvos, where the Moria camp was reduced to ashes last year, work has not yet started and the new center will not be finished until the fall of 2022, according to a government source.
The European Commission has pledged € 276 million to finance five new camps on the Aegean islands, which receive most of the migrants arriving from neighboring Turkish coasts. “This is the first reception center of a new generation on the Aegean Islands,” Beate Gminder, deputy director general for migration and interior at the European Commission, told Samos.
In Samos, the slum of Vathy had housed nearly 7,000 asylum seekers between 2015 and 2016, for an initial capacity of 680 people. Of the 550 migrants who remain on the island, some 300 still living in unsanitary conditions have agreed to be transferred to the new camp where they are due to report on Monday.
But they will only be allowed to go out during the day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., transported by special buses into the city and forced to present their fingerprints and electronic badges at the magnetic gate at the entrance. Disciplinary sanctions are planned for those who do not return before 8 p.m.
Concerns of NGOs and UNHCR
Human rights defenders are concerned about the detention of asylum seekers. These new centers “will prevent the effective identification of vulnerable people”, “limit asylum seekers’ access to services” and “amplify the harmful effect of confinement on the mental health of people”, criticized a around fifty NGOs, including Amnesty International.
“The word closed comes up often and it’s worrying,” admitted Mireille Girard, the representative in Greece of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“The UNHCR position is that the asylum seeker needs protection, he is not a criminal or someone who poses a risk to the community, he is a person who needs help. For us, the camps must be open, the government has assured us that they will be, ”she told AFP.
Athens continues to congratulate itself on the significant decongestion of the camps on the islands and the reduction in arrivals by nearly 90% since 2019. But NGOs explain this drop by the systematic and illegal refoulement of migrants to Turkey, which denies the conservative Greek government.