On Wednesday 27 November, the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) issued a warning to European leaders to put an end to the appalling conditions in which migrants live in camps on the Greek Aegean islands, particularly in Moria, on the island of Lesbos.
In Brussels, Christos Christou, MSF International President, described the daily lives of the thousands of people living in “miserable conditions”, with the President even reporting suicide attempts he has seen in “children”.
“I have just returned from the Greek islands and I am shocked by what I have seen and by the stories of my colleagues on the ground”, wrote the President in a letter to European leaders the same day. What he saw there, in Moria among others, is comparable to “war zones”. The worst part, the doctor said Wednesday morning, is that this situation “seems almost normal and justified”, while it is “unacceptable”.
Too few beds, promiscuity and cohabitation of torture victims with strangers.... Another MSF volunteer present in Brussels on Wednesday expressed her “anger” and despair at the situations encountered: “children being treated for infections who must be sent back to these tents”. The same “for pregnant women” ...
While the Greek government has announced that it will replace these structures with closed centres, the NGO is asking the government to repatriate these people to the continent or “to other Member States”. On this occasion, MSF also denounced the March 2016 EU/Turkey agreement, which ultimately led to more people than expected being kept on the Greek islands. An agreement that the EU must stop “celebrating” and start addressing its negative consequences, commented Reem Mussa, an advisor at MSF.
Nearly 15,000 migrants were counted in the Moria camp, including 5,000 children, according to MSF figures in mid-November. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)