Published : 14-05-2020
Palestinian and Syrian refugees seeking shelter in Ritsona camp, located on the Greek mainland, roughly 75 kilometers northeast of Athens and housing about 3,000 migrants, denounced the poor hygiene and absence of healthcare services in the migrant facility.
Live photos obtained by AGPS show mounds of trash piled up on the access road, near migrant tents, which increases the risk of COVID-19 contaminations and the spread of life-threatening diseases.
The refugees also denounced the steep food prices.
Palestinian refugees and other migrants have been subjected to a dire humanitarian situation in substandard facilities set up in Greece, most of them vastly overcrowded, unhygienic and violence-prone.
Palestinian refugees from Syria continue to risk their lives onboard the “death boats” to Greece. Activists estimate that around 4,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria are taking shelter on Greek islands.
Greece recorded its first coronavirus case in late February, reporting more than 1,400 cases so far and 50 deaths. The country's official population is 11 million. Compared to other EU countries at the forefront of the migration trend into Europe such as Italy and Spain, Greece has thus far kept its corona case numbers relatively low.
However, with more than 40,000 refugees and migrant presently stuck in refugee camps on the Greek islands alone, the Greek government has described the current situation as a "ticking health bomb."
Aid organisations stress that conditions in the overcrowded camps are inhumane, calling for migrants to be evacuated from the Greek islands. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that Greece was ready to "protect" its islands, where no case has been recorded so far, while adding that he expects the EU to do more to help improve overall conditions in migrant camps and to assist relocate people to other EU countries.
Palestinian and Syrian refugees seeking shelter in Ritsona camp, located on the Greek mainland, roughly 75 kilometers northeast of Athens and housing about 3,000 migrants, denounced the poor hygiene and absence of healthcare services in the migrant facility.
Live photos obtained by AGPS show mounds of trash piled up on the access road, near migrant tents, which increases the risk of COVID-19 contaminations and the spread of life-threatening diseases.
The refugees also denounced the steep food prices.
Palestinian refugees and other migrants have been subjected to a dire humanitarian situation in substandard facilities set up in Greece, most of them vastly overcrowded, unhygienic and violence-prone.
Palestinian refugees from Syria continue to risk their lives onboard the “death boats” to Greece. Activists estimate that around 4,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria are taking shelter on Greek islands.
Greece recorded its first coronavirus case in late February, reporting more than 1,400 cases so far and 50 deaths. The country's official population is 11 million. Compared to other EU countries at the forefront of the migration trend into Europe such as Italy and Spain, Greece has thus far kept its corona case numbers relatively low.
However, with more than 40,000 refugees and migrant presently stuck in refugee camps on the Greek islands alone, the Greek government has described the current situation as a "ticking health bomb."
Aid organisations stress that conditions in the overcrowded camps are inhumane, calling for migrants to be evacuated from the Greek islands. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that Greece was ready to "protect" its islands, where no case has been recorded so far, while adding that he expects the EU to do more to help improve overall conditions in migrant camps and to assist relocate people to other EU countries.
