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As you read this article, refugees and immigrants on the Greek island of Samos are moving against their will from a makeshift camp to a new prison-like center. The new so-called “closed controlled access” camp can accommodate up to 3,000 people, including an internal detention facility that can accommodate 900 people. This isolated facility is far from any town and is surrounded by three rows of fences, topped by military-grade barbed wire, and equipped with sophisticated monitoring systems.
The Greek and European authorities described the new camp as a humanitarian success story. Quite the contrary: the isolation imposed by the state deprives people of the right to seek asylum, medical care, and human dignity. The only so-called “crimes” of these families and individuals are seeking protection, security, refugee status and a better life in Europe.
Repressive immigration policies in Europe criminalize, humiliate and punish refugees and migrants, rather than defend their rights under international law. To conceal the cruelty of these policies, a new sterilized vocabulary was created to describe illegal, restrictive and inhumane conditions designed to deter potential asylum applicants and refugees.
Since 2020, the European Commission has allocated millions of euros to the Greek government for the construction of new restricted centers, and the center on Samos is the first to open. All these camps are marketed to improve living conditions, but they all follow the same pattern: they are remote, provide active security measures and services internally, isolate people from the wider society, and make the refugee problem invisible. The basic rights of refugees and immigrants are hardly respected. According to international refugee and human rights laws, the European Union and Greece are obliged to abide by these rights.
In recent years, Médecins Sans Frontières (Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) has been accompanying and caring for the asylum seekers trapped in various parts of the Greek Islands, mainly in Afghanistan, Syria and sub-Saharan Africa. During that time, we witnessed the catastrophic effects of European deterrence and containment policies on the health of refugees and migrants and the communities that host them.
We are angry. Since April 2021, more than half of our new patients on Samos have thoughts of suicide or death, and nearly 2 in 10 are at risk of suicide. Over the past few months, we have seen people we treat fear being locked up in new camps, feeling abandoned and helpless.
Our report released in June 2021 warn Regarding the consequences of the new refugee camps, it also shows the severity of the suffering that has been caused to asylum seekers and refugees trapped on the Greek islands.
Placing vulnerable people (some of whom have serious mental health problems) in an isolated, prison-like environment is dangerous and will be traumatized again. “European fortresses” won’t work. It will not prevent people from seeking safety and protection, it will cause immense human suffering and suffering, and encourage fear and violence.
On the front lines of conflict, including in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, MSF runs hospitals and humanitarian activities, providing life-saving care and a little dignity. Our team has witnessed the desperate journey our patients have gone through to escape the violence of war and seek safety and basic life for their families.
Many of the people we helped were received by neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sudan. Compared with the size of the population, the “European Fortress” actually accepts very few refugees. It has not done enough to help refugees, let alone abandon its moral responsibility. It has failed to establish a dignified and functioning refugee receiving and receiving capacity.
In 2015, Germany reaffirmed the unquestionable right to seek asylum in Europe by welcoming 1 million Syrian refugees, and emphasized that they provide opportunities for the future of this aging country. The EU can accept these ideas again. Given that large numbers of people from Syria, Afghanistan, and sub-Saharan Africa are in desolate conditions around the world, Europeans can take courageous steps to develop an immigration policy that reflects their legal obligations to those at risk. Integrate them into European society and give them access to asylum, medical care and other basic services in a fair and timely manner.
Instead of spending millions of euros on militarized border security and prison-like camps and processing facilities in the Greek Islands, Italy, and North Africa, the EU can invest its efforts and funds into dignified reception and integration. Europeans can use their global leadership in immigration, fulfill their obligations under international law, and benefit from a younger, multicultural and healthy population to create the EU mosaic of tomorrow.
European governments must realize that it is not feasible to solve the immigration problem quickly following the logic of “not seeing the mind and not disturbing”. An effective and feasible solution requires foresight, courageous leadership and collective responsibility. We need these today more than ever.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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