They were stranded and crises followed

Mental illness exacerbates the plight of refugees on the Greek islands

  • Residents of the camp are only allowed to leave once a week

  • The Moria camp fire dispersed the refugees and destroyed the psyche of children.

    Archive

  • Refugees living in containers that do not have the necessities of life.

    Archive

  • The disastrous situation frustrated the spirits of young and old.

    Archive

  • 5552255

  • Greek authorities refuse to treat dangerous cases of refugee children.

    Archive

picture

Refugees on the Greek islands are struggling.

They fled conflicts to find a very difficult situation waiting for them, which worsened with the outbreak of the new epidemic.

Among them is Nadia, the mother of five, who did not sleep the night before last, as she tries to calm her seven-year-old son Mattin, who is autistic, while torrential rain fell on the family tent.

The child was crying and asking for the noise to stop.

The mother says: "I tried to explain to him that the rain is beyond our control, but at these moments, you cannot communicate with him, now."

The family, who hails from the Afghan province of Parwan, lives in a new refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, which was established within three days, after the fire that destroyed parts of the notorious "Moria" camp.

Nadia, 38, helps Mattin bathe and has finally recovered from scabies, using water in a plastic bottle.

She says she witnessed a clear deterioration in his behavior and sleep.

And she says, "We can no longer sleep," continuing: "I hope to reach my son, dead, to a warm place;

This is my only wish. ”

A report issued last week by the International Rescue Committee, which includes testimonies from 904 participants in health programs, from the camps on the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos, showed that after the closure, in March, there was an increase of 71%. In the number of people with symptoms of mental illness, a 66% increase in self-harm.

Medical Volunteers International volunteer Anna Schlegel, who works with children on Lesbos, says emotional instability is common among children who treat them.

"They will either get very aggressive or sad, over time," she says.

Among the 32 pediatric patients, the problems also include bedwetting, stuttering and sleepwalking.

Exposure to trauma

"Children, too, have begun to use self-harm to relieve stress and overwhelming emotions that they face due to exposure to trauma," says Schlegel, adding that the "Moria" fire, on the eighth of September, still weighs on some children. "A boy in our group was always focused on fire.

And if he saw a building, he would focus on it and ask what it would look like if it was burning? ''

For his part, psychologist Thanassis Chervatides, who works for Doctors Without Borders, in Lesbos, says that parents need psychological stability first, "We have not seen a mental health care emergency like this, even in Moria," continuing: "If The child saw that his parents had surrendered or feared, and the matter also affected him. ”He added that children do not have the same mechanisms as adults to express their fears and“ most of them appear during sleep ”

In 2020, MSF treated 49 children, on Lesbos, who had thought or had attempted suicide.

The current demand for MSF services is more than the organization can meet, and there is a long waiting list in the children's clinic, the clinic for victims of torture and sexual violence.

The rains led to the flooding of parts of the camp, and the tents were flooded on more than one occasion.

Human rights organizations have raised concerns about the poor living conditions of the camp's residents, which many on the ground have called "Moria 2.0".

Thirty-six hot showers have been installed, but many of the 7,300 residents are still bathing using buckets or water bottles.

The closure restrictions only allow camp residents to leave once, per week, to visit the supermarket, lawyer, or pharmacy.

Exits are monitored and residents who do not wear masks are fined.

"Many children, too, are afraid of the police, and they are not seen as protectors but are basically punished people," says Cervatidis.

Petra Molnar of the Migration and Technology Observatory says that the security measures have an impact on people's mental health, explaining: “We are seeing the emergence of surveillance technologies such as drones that patrol the sky, and the increased use of closed facilities and surveillance in the new camp on Lesbos;

This kind of ubiquitous monitoring and constant stress has long-term repercussions on mental health, especially for children.

Nor is Lesbos, the only island in the Aegean, where refugees are experiencing a growing mental health crisis.

And live in "Samos" a little more than 3,600 people, on an area of ​​land designed for 648 people.

The island was hit by an earthquake in October, as well as fires in the recent period, as some residents lost all their documents or belongings.

Losing battle

"Every time something like this happens, it kind of pushes them over the edge," says Lindsay Duchar, a psychiatrist at Doctors Without Borders, who worked in Samos for about two months.

And in November, 60% of visitors to the camp clinic expressed suicidal thoughts. "Sometimes I feel like we are fighting a losing battle," says Duchar.

Gilia Sikuli, of the Mazi Youth Center in Samos, says she heard some young people in the camp express suicidal thoughts such as: "I don't want to live anymore" and "I don't know when this will end?"

Children make up about a quarter of the camp's population in Samos, which is located on a hill overlooking the town of Vathy.

Most people sleep outside the camp, where scabies, mice and bed bugs are part of daily life.

"The lucky ones are housed in a container, and often they do not have hot water, the floors are ruined, the windows and doors are missing and the containers are overcrowded," Sikuli said.

Constant suffering

During a visit to Lesbos last week, the Greek Minister of Immigration, Notis Mitarakis, said that "the new temporary camp is in very good condition, with regard to security and order", and "it is not comparable to the Moria camp!"

European Union member states are discussing resettlement of refugees from the Aegean islands, and more than 14,500 people face another winter, in refugee camps on the islands.

The Afghan refugee, Nadia, will continue to leave the camp, once a week, to take her son to his medical appointments, and to take a coloring book to keep him busy, while he wears three warm jackets.

Long term effects

In the weeks following the destruction of the Moria camp, nearly all unaccompanied minors - children traveling without a parent or guardian - were taken off the island.

But many children are also left behind on Lesbos, as well as the other islands.

According to MSF psychologist Greg Kavarnos, children are among the people most at risk of suffering from long-term mental health effects.

Karima, from Afghanistan, is also taking antidepressants and finds it difficult to sleep.

Most of her family - including her two young granddaughters - were two and three, on a boat from Turkey that sank in the Aegean Sea.

They were rescued and taken to Lesbos, and they lived in "Moria" camp, for about two years.

And Ibn Karima, Ruhollah, narrates: “The situation was very bad, as people died and killed each other.” He continued: “We did not sleep, so now we have mental problems, only because of Lesbos.”

As for the sister of Ruhollah and the mother of the two young girls, she became so sick and desperate that she deliberately injured herself.

Her husband was killed in Afghanistan.

Lack of health care

In Lesbos Island camp, at least 140 children are deprived of suffering from chronic, complex and life-threatening diseases;

Of adequate medical care.

Doctors Without Borders calls on the Greek government to intervene in response to these serious medical concerns, and to evacuate all seriously ill children to the Greek mainland, or other member states of the European Union, where they can receive appropriate medical care.

"We see many children suffering from medical conditions, such as diabetes, asthma and heart disease, who are forced to live in tents, in squalid and unsanitary conditions, with the lack of specialized medical care and the medicines they need," says the organization's coordinator, Dr. Hilda Fuchten. : “MSF is in discussions with the Greek authorities in order to transfer the children to the mainland, to receive urgent medical care, but despite the diagnosis of some children, none of them have yet been transferred.”

The organization criticizes the Greek government's failure to find a prompt and systematic solution for these children, because their health condition is dangerous, and it can have lifelong consequences or even death.

In July 2019, the Greek government revoked access to public health care for asylum seekers and undocumented people arriving in Greece, leaving more than 55,000 people without medical care.

• 3,600 people live in "Samos" camp, on an area of ​​land designed for 648 people.

• 60% of visitors to the "Samos" camp clinic have suicidal thoughts.

Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news