Life in a Refugee Camp

LIFE IN A REFUGEE CAMP, AN INTERVIEW WITH FABRICE, RESIDENT OF MORIA 2.0 IN LESVOS, GREECE By Ophelie Lawson

On September last year, after fire ravaged the old refugee camp Moria, Europe’s largest refugee camp, located on the Greek island of Lesvos, a new temporary camp was built: the temporary reception and identification centre known as Mavrovouni, or Moria 2.0. It has been 7 months now since the opening of that camp, and what was supposed to be a temporary solution is slowly becoming a permanent one. I spoke with Fabrice, who I met on the island of Lesvos back in 2019, and who’s been living in the new camp since it was built, and also a former resident of the old Moria camp. Fabrice came to Europe asking for asylum in February 2019, fleeing persecution in his country of origin, hoping for safety. Instead, he has had two rejections to his asylum claim and has been trapped on the island, living in the worst conditions of a refugee camp, for over 2 years now. Fabrice, you have been in Lesvos for almost two years now and you have been living in the new Moria camp since September of last year, have the conditions of the camp improved since September or since the European commissioner, Ylva Johansson went to Lesvos and promised better conditions?

Yes, it’s been two years now that I have been on the island, the old camp was harder than living in hell, the life of every person could end in any seconds there. There was crime, violence, rape, theft, fire, no decent sanitary or hygienic conditions, static situations on administrative procedures. It was like in a jungle, everyone made his own laws as they heard it. All of this was happening right in front of the eyes of the Greek authorities who were incompetent and incapable of solving our problems. Because there was a constant flow of new people, I don’t know if when they see us piling up and dying it did them good, until the camp was set on fire. For the new camp, things started better. Now things seem to be a bit more neglected. When she [The European commissioner] came to visit us, we didn’t even have time to approach her. The locals of the island did, they had opportunities to yell at her and ask her how much longer asylum seekers would be kept on the island until they are assessed and evacuated to the continent. For us asylum seekers who were supposed to have a chance to talk to her, unfortunately, we were not given such an opportunity. She was only shown the important places of the camp through a guided tour. She did not even have time to talk with women, young people and community leaders for them to explain some of our daily difficulties. Her visit did not improve anything for us, the administrative procedures continued in the same slow pace, complicated accommodation conditions, hygienic and sanitary situation always the same. In fact, after this, single women and families who were housed in containers with few conditions to cope with, for instance, bad weather, were relocated in tents made of weak fabric. The money that the EU had spent is much more for the infrastructure of their country, asylum seekers are not beneficiaries, our situation continues just the same and is getting worst. Convoys and transfers to take people out of the camp and to the mainland are not happening as often. Now if you are done with the asylum procedures you have to organise your departure from the island by your own means, you have to buy a plane ticket or a boat ticket to go elsewhere, that’s the reality.

How is life in the new camp? Is there a lot of change in daily life and routine from the beginning?

Life in the new camp is still as always: stressful, everything can change overnight, the security situation is still starting to worry us little by little, there is insecurity that is starting to gain ground, there have already been a few cases of rape, thefts and assaults, people stealing phones. Electricity in the camp is still very unstable, the food is not well cooked. Women and children exposed to very unsanitary conditions and likely to contract all kinds of germs and infections. Continuous negative decisions, wave of rejections to asylum claims in all communities. NGOs have reported the presence of lead exposure in the area, which is expected to impact and put in danger several people but no one is talking about it, so the situation is deteriorating slowly, in silence. No one is paying attention.

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WHAT IS HAPPENING IN GREECE FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS? AND WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT IT? By Ophelie Lawson

At the border of Europe are refugee camps that are not being talked about enough. Refugee flow is a thematic that has gained worldwide attention, as it should. It is sometimes hard to believe, especially out of context, that human beings amid the 21st century are still forced to leave their countries because of war, crime, violence, persecution, colonisation, and climate change. Displacement has been happening for as long as we can remember. And the fact that refugees are being neglected and their human rights constantly grossly violated in crowded camps is something we have heard so often that we have come to think of it as normal.

Because of the Eastern Mediterranean migration route between Turkey and Greece, Greece is currently hosting the largest refugee camps in Europe, as it is a point of entry. In 2015, it was the main entry point for over one million refugees and migrants who fled to Europe by sea, seeking safety dangerously in inadequate vessels run by people smugglers. (UNHCR) Moria Camp 2.0 is currently known as being the largest one. It is located on a Greek Island in the Aegean sea called Lesvos, about 11 hours from Athens by boat. Officially, the camp is called Mavrovouni Temporary Reception and identification centre, but is formally being referred to as Moria 2.0. It was built to replace the original camp Moria which burst into fires in early September 2020. 20000 people were trapped in the old camp and displaced after the fire. Many people were deported to other countries, moved to villages and cities on the island and or to Athens. The new camp hosts 6,780 people. But over 9000 refugees and asylum seekers still reside on the island of Lesvos. The majority of the refugee population on the island (the expression “refugee population” includes both refugees and asylum seekers) comes from Afghanistan (70%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (10%) Syria (7%), Somalia (6%) and Iraq (1%). Women account for 23% of the population and children 35% according to the UNHCR. Asylum seekers generally have to wait for a protracted period of time in the reception and identification centre (refugee camp) before they are granted refugee status. Some people have been waiting for months or years. However, only a small number of asylum seekers are provided with a solution to their situation, whether through having a refugee status or being able to go back to their country. Many are stuck inside refugee camps and facing the worst living conditions for an extended period of time. What is heartbreaking is that the conditions of those camps are not safe especially for single women. And people who are stuck within those camps have come to Europe for no other reason than to seek safety. Safety is not only the comfort of having a stable home or a roof over your head, food on your plate every day, or an income, which all of them are deprived of, it is also freedom from harm or danger, the state of being safe: a safe place. The state of safety also depends on how welcomed in a community you are. How safe are you within that community, how accepted, how integrated? Europe is failing refugees and refugee camps are a symbol of Europe’s failed migration policies. Many ngos and human rights activists are constantly denouncing the living conditions within those camps. The reason why asylum seekers are accommodated in camps for an extended period of time seems to stem from the understanding of European governments that the situatiıon of refugee camps should be temporary. This state of impermanence is what the host country wants the situation to be. However, the reality is different. Inside Moria camp, in Lesvos, I have met and interviewed people that were there for years. Asylum seekers are not reaching safety while they enter Europe. On the contrary. Greek refugee camps at the borders allow the authorities and Europe to ‘maintain’ more control over refugees as they are all in one place and over the flow of refugees entering Europe through that route. But it is denying them of their humanity, keeping them in terrible inhuman conditions in the name of national and international security. The nature of refugee migration is forced, as they cannot go back to their countries as governments themself are declaring war, persecuting them, and are not ready and willing to protect them or accommodate their identities.

I believe the international community should pay close attention to the political decisions that are being made in Europe about refugee camps, and also the way that people seeking safety are forced to live. That neglect which the refugee population is facing is occurring because of political unwillingness, global indifference, and the personal interests of European governments. And it is justifying the daily gross violation of the human rights of thousands of people seeking safety. Read more: tinyurl.com/5d7k5j8m