Dozens of Syrian refugees are stranded on a small and isolated Greek island near the border with Turkey, and they are facing an unknown fate, and a deep fear of their continued presence without shelter on the island of the Evros River, which is described as the Snake River.
This river was called the Snake River, not only for the shape of its terrain, but also for taking the lives of many who tried to cross it on small boats to escape their reality and circumstances towards a life they thought was safer.
These 39 refugees arrived on the Greek island from Turkey to seek asylum, but the Greek government refused even to allow aid organizations to help them, ignoring a decision by the European Court of Human Rights to rescue them.
Hunger, thirst and scorpions
These refugees live in extremely harsh and difficult conditions, where there is no food, water, or medicine, surrounded by a lake and bushes infested with snakes and scorpions.
Two young men drowned trying to cross this river to safety, and the five-year-old girl Maria died a few days ago of being stung by a scorpion, while her nine-year-old sister Aya is in a critical condition and in a very dangerous situation after she was also stung by a scorpion.
While they are stranded, these refugees have nothing to eat but herbs and waste, and they drink murky water, among them pregnant women, while the appeals continue through short messages sent by the refugee girl, Baida Al-Salih, to activists and journalists, in an attempt to receive them on the Greek side.
The border guards stripped them of their clothes
In addition to the harsh conditions in which they live, these refugees complained that Greek border guards stripped some of their clothes and stole their belongings and phones.
They also complained of being beaten by Turkish and Greek forces on both sides of the border.
Greece refused a request by volunteer Greek doctors to grant them permission to visit them.
The refugees say they have become a ball tossed back and forth across the border, no one wants them, no one listens to them or helps them, and they fear that some of them will die before they are rescued.
In parallel, Greece imposes a tight cordon on its borders to prevent illegal infiltration of asylum seekers.