Pregnant women, children and survivors of torture abandoned in Greek camps as screening system breaks down

For much of 2018 there was just one government-appointed doctor in Lesvos who was responsible for screening as many as 2,000 people arriving each month. In November, there was no doctor at all so there were no medical screenings to identify the most vulnerable people.

The report includes accounts of mothers sent away from hospital to live in a tent as early as four days after giving birth by Caesarian section. It tells of survivors of sexual violence and other traumas living in a camp on Lesvos where fights break out regularly and where two-thirds of residents say they never feel safe. Hundreds of vulnerable people are lumped together to live in Moria, the EU ‘hotspot’ camp for registering arrivals and processing asylum claims, which is at almost twice its capacity.

Renata Rendón, Oxfam’s Head of Mission in Greece, said: “It is irresponsible and reckless to fail to recognise the most vulnerable people and respond to their needs. Our partners have met mothers with newborn babies sleeping in tents, and teenagers wrongly registered as adults being locked up. Surely identifying and providing for the needs of such people is the most basic duty of the Greek government and its European partners.”

Under Greek and EU laws, the legal definition of vulnerability specifically includes unaccompanied children, women who are pregnant or with young babies, people with disabilities and survivors of torture, among others. They should have access to the normal Greek asylum procedure instead of a fast-tracked process designed to send them back to Turkey or their country of origin. They should be given suitable accommodation and appropriate medical care on the mainland.

Oxfam said there was a particularly worrying trend of authorities detaining teenagers and survivors of torture after failing to recognise them as vulnerable. Legal and social workers told Oxfam they frequently came across detainees who should not have been locked up because of their age or because of poor physical or mental health. Once in detention, it is even more difficult for them to get the medical or psychological help they need.

In one case, a 28-year-old asylum seeker from Cameroon was locked up for five months based on his nationality despite having serious mental health issues. No one checked his physical and mental health before he was detained and it took a month for him to see a psychologist. He said: “We had just two hours a day when we were allowed to get out of the container. The rest of the time you are sitting in a small space with 15 other men who all have their own problems.”

Winter has brought heavy rain to Lesvos turning the tented areas of the camp into a muddy bog. The temperature is expected to drop below freezing in the next week and there could be snow. Desperate to keep warm, people burn anything they can find including plastic and they take dangerous improvised heaters into their tents.

Rendón said: “Local authorities and humanitarian groups are making efforts to improve conditions in places like Lesvos. Unfortunately, this is made almost impossible by policies supported by the Greek government and EU that keep people trapped on the islands for indefinite periods.”

Oxfam is calling for the Greek government and EU member states to deploy more expert staff, including doctors and psychologists, and to fix the screening system on the Greek islands. It said that more people seeking asylum should be transferred to mainland Greece on a regular basis – particularly the vulnerable. Oxfam is also calling on EU member states to share responsibility for receiving asylum seekers with Greece more fairly.