Widespread problems of mental health, thoughts suicides, children who tried to take their own lives and, in general, desperate conditions in Greek reception centers. To offer this dramatic portrait of the situation in which thousands of people find themselves is Doctors Without Borders which, on the occasion of the International Day of Migrants, provides updates on the situation of people fleeing from Africa, Middle East e Asia along the so-called Balkan Route, asking theEuropean Union and the Greek authorities to “immediately transfer all asylum seekers from island camps to secure accommodation on the mainland”.
Four months afterfire that destroyed the largest refugee camp in Europe, Moria, “And despite the EU’s vain promises, more than 15 thousand women, men and children they are still trapped in inhumane and unsafe conditions in the centers on the Greek islands ”, writes the NGO. MSF health workers have found in them “worrying mental health problems. 60% of patients a Samos she expressed suicidal thoughts and MSF psychologists in Lesbos treated 49 cases of children who attempted suicide during the year”.
An emergency situation that worries the NGO even more since we are at the gates of winter, with living conditions that are therefore destined to worsen further due to low temperatures, with new waves of coronavirus expected across the continent. “A new ‘reception and identification center’ has been built 5 kilometers from the camp Vathy and another will be made a Lesbo, a plan that will only increase the suffering of these people, making it even more invisible, ”he said Stephan Obberreit, head of mission of Msf.
“In Samos – it says – 3,500 people live in a center with 648 places in miserable conditions. Most live in makeshift tents in the woods next to the center without access to showers, toilets and adequate shelter to protect themselves from the cold. After any critical and harmful event, such as fires, the recent earthquake, the lockdown, we witnessed a increase in severe cases in our clinic, with a decidedly disturbing increase in thoughts of suicide e self-harm by people trapped in the camp, ”he explains Lindsay Solera-Deuchar, psychiatrist of MSF in Samos. “Being forced to live in difficult conditions for an extended period and continuing uncertainty about asylum applications contribute to aggravating the mental health problems of people in the camp, many of whom have already experienced traumatic events in their country of origin or during I travel to Greece. Without addressing these issues, it is impossible to effectively care for our patients. They need a safe and stable environment to recover ”, concluded the operator.
The situation in Lesbos is no better, where “more than 7,000 asylum seekers, including 2,500 children, live in tents that often flood due to the rains. Recently, the terrible episode of a three year old girl raped in the camp demonstrates the shocking inadequacy of protective measures and the urgent need for safe and decent housing for the most vulnerable. Since the fire occurred and the migrants have been transferred to a new camp, MSF child psychologists continue to notice troubling symptoms among children, including sonnambulismo, nightmares, regressive behaviors, self-harm e suicidal ideas“. Thanasis Chirvatidis, child psychologist of MSF on the island, says that “among the most serious cases we see children who isolate themselves or express the desire to end their lives. They want to stay inside the tent all the time, they don’t want to socialize and they want to die to stop their suffering and not feel like this anymore ”.
–
