International humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF or Doctors Without Borders) on Thursday called on the Greek government and the European Union member states to stop deliberately ignoring approximately 24,000 people trapped on the Greek islands in a deplorable environment
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th September, 2019) International humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF or Doctors Without Borders) on Thursday called on the Greek government and the European Union member states to stop deliberately ignoring approximately 24,000 people trapped on the Greek islands in a deplorable environment.According to the organization, the humanitarian crisis could be prevented if the authorities started an immediate evacuation of minors, women, elderly and vulnerable people to the Greek mainland and the European Union, added medical personnel, developed mechanisms to avoid constant overcrowding on the islands, as well as ended the current containment policy to ensure the respect of the refugees' fundamental human rights.
"This is not a new emergency: the severe overcrowding in the hotspots is a policy-driven crisis harming thousands of men, women and children every day, for years. We have seen it in the past and we continue to see it today," MSF's head of mission in Greece, Tommaso Santo, said, as quoted in the statement.
According to the MSF, the inhumane conditions that the refugees must endure not only affect their physical health, but also their mental well-being, especially for children.
"More and more of these children stop playing, have nightmares, are afraid to go out of their tents and start to withdraw from life. Some of them completely stop talking. With the increasing overcrowding, violence and lack of safety in the camp, the situation for children is deteriorating day by day. To prevent permanent damage, these children need to be removed from Moria camp immediately," MSF's mental health activity manager on Lesbos, Katrin Brubakk, said.
The Moria camp was designed to accommodate 3,000 people, but nearly 9,000 irregular migrants were living there in 2018. The Greek authorities struggle to find ways to manage the continuous migrant inflow from Turkey and attempt to relocate asylum seekers from the overcrowded island to the mainland.
Europe has been struggling since 2015 to tackle its worst migrant crisis since World War II. The crisis reached its peak just a couple of years later but has recently shown signs of slowing down. Spain, Italy and Greece are the most affected countries as they serve as the main so-called safe havens for undocumented migrants who reach Europe by sea.
