Earlier this week, the European Union (EU) and Greece opened a new asylum centre in Zervou on the Greek Island of Samos to accommodate around 500 asylum seekers transferred from the old Vathy Camp.
At the opening of the new centre, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said, “The new closed-controlled access centre will give back the lost dignity to people seeking international protection, but also the necessary conditions of safeguarding and restraint for illegal migrants who are to be returned.”
The Samos facility is one of several camps built on Greece’s five Aegean islands—Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos—with EU funds to accommodate migrant arrivals from Turkey. The EU has pledged €276 million ($326 million) for constructing these camps. The camps in Leros and Kos will open in November.
The new facility can hold up to 3,000 people and is far away from urban centres. A double-barded wire surrounds the facility, which is equipped with surveillance cameras, magnetic doors, and X-ray scanners.
On Monday, Greece started moving asylum seekers to this EU-funded “closed camp” despite activists complaining about limited access and restrictive measures.
A non-governmental organisation, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has alleged that the centre is “nothing more than a prison for people whose only crime is seeking safety.” Furthermore, in a statement released last week, the MSF said, “There is no doubt that this new centre will only further dehumanise and marginalise people seeking protection in the European Union.”
In a tweet on Wednesday, the MSF said, “Until today, around 270 people have been transferred to the newly opened centre in Zervou, Samos. MSF teams have started reaching out to our patients via phone since people are not allowed to go out for now. Some of them report feeling trapped & scared.” “We remain extremely concerned about the impact of this highly securitised environment to the mental health of people and especially to our patients with mental health disorders. For the past five years, we have witnessed how the containment system puts people’s health & mental health in danger. The new MPRICs, like the one that was shamelessly inaugurated on Samos, are just more restrictive versions of Moria & Vathy facilities. It needs to stop!” the organisation added.
Apart from the MSF, Amnesty International has accused the Greek government of pursuing “harmful policies focused on deterring and containing asylum seekers and refugees.” Moreover, NGOs and civil society groups have urged the EU and Greece not to restrict people’s movement in the camps.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative to Greece, Mireille Girard, also expressed concern, saying, “The word ‘closed’ comes up often, and this is concerning. Asylum seekers need protection; they are not criminals or a risk for the community; they are people who need help.” “For us, camps should be open. The government has assured us that they will be,” she added.
However, migrants told Euronews that the conditions in the new facility are better. Guylian Ngawuma, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo staying at the centre, said, “I was in the old camp, and it was very bad. Here the conditions are good. We have a place to sleep and, well, we don’t have mice, as we had in the old camp.”
The Greek government has also rejected the criticism and said, “The migrants’ stay at the centre is only meant to be temporary while the EU is considering asylum requests.”
Greece has previously been accused of poor living conditions in camps on the Aegean islands. During the 2015-2016 migration crisis, Greece sheltered 7,000 asylum seekers in a facility built for 700 people. The country fears another migration crisis amid the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.