Paying the Price: Greek Refugee Hotspots 'Swelling' After EU-Turkey Deal

Having witnessed the conditions and the infrastructure initially implemented on the island of Samos since 2015, Pru Waldorf of charity Calais Action told Sputnik that when the EU-Turkey deal came into effect, "everything froze."

"The facilities to hold asylum seekers since the EU-Turkey deal are not ready," Waldorf said, as well as explaining that the space is extremely tight.

"Tents are on top of each other and pitched on slopes."

​On the island of Samos, where Pru and her team are currently based, a sleeping baby recently rolled out of a tent down a hill onto concrete ground after falling out of a tent pitched precariously on a hillside.

'Dirty Deal'

The deal between the EU and Turkey stipulated that from March 2016, any migrant arriving illegally in Greece will be sent back to Turkey if they do not qualify for asylum.

Under the one-for-one refugee deal, for every Syrian migrant returned to Turkey, the EU will resettle another Syrian refugee, meanwhile the number of asylum seekers continue to "swell" in Greece’s hotspots.

Since the EU-Turkey deal, the number of migrants arriving on Samos has dropped from almost 1,000 every day – to around 70. The problem now, according to Waldorf, is that the closed camps where they are supposed to be processed are too small and not fit for purpose.

​"The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) do not process the asylum seekers, however the UNHCR do provide advice on immigration and asylum — but this is actually the responsibility of European Asylum Support Office (EASO)," Waldorf told Sputnik.

She said that all the vulnerable unaccompanied child refugees were recently transferred to a separate enclosure with no supervision, no guardianship and no police presence ensuring their safety in an area which was neither locked nor secure.

"It was like they were shining a light on the location of where the most vulnerable and unprotected children are. When we when to inspect the place we would find adults just wondering around in there."

"No one is taking responsibility for basic needs, it's alarming how many child protection failings there are and no one is accountable. The UNHCR are not operating or acting, preferring instead to advocate and observe."

Charity Calais Action has been volunteering on the ground in Greece since 2015, having previously helped set up infrastructures in French refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk.

"It was a real shock to see these conditions in Europe."

'Greece Abandoned by EU'

"Back in 2015, we witnessed thousands of people sleeping rough, children lying on bits of cloth, in conditions akin to pictures we saw on the television of refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan," Waldorf told Sputnik.

Greece, according to the United Nations has been "abandoned" by the European Union whilst the suffering of migrants "is the result of a complete absence of long-term vision and the clear lack of political will of the EU," according to Francois Crepeau, UN Special Rapporteur on migrants' human rights.

"This is not only a humanitarian crisis. This is more importantly a political crisis in which the EU and the overwhelming majority of EU member states have abandoned Greece."

"Calais Action believe that the EU-Turkey deal is illegal and anti-humanitarian, not to mention unworkable. It must be reconsidered as a matter of urgency. Putting a burden of responsibility this great on Greece with their current economic climate is irresponsible and unacceptable.

"We urge you to write to your MEP immediately to bring this to their notice and demand that they pressure Donald Tusk with these failings."