Damning report on migrant mental health in Greece released

(ANSAmed) - ATHENS, 17 DIC - Humanitarian aid organization the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has released a damning report on the state of mental health among asylum seekers staying at the numerous reception center 'hotspots' on Greece's Eastern Aegean islands.
    Almost five years have passed since the peak of the ongoing refugee crisis and the establishment of five EU-funded Reception and Identification Centers (RICs) - or hotspots as they are also more commonly known - on the Greek islands, nearly 15,000 people remain stranded in these camps.
    Having survived long and dangerous journeys to get to Europe, they have found themselves trapped for months and even years in dangerously overcrowded camps with inhumane living conditions.
    Recently for around 7,000 migrants and refugees staying on Lesvos, the situation has deteriorated even further since September 2020, when the infamous Moria camp was destroyed in a series of fires.
    A new, makeshift "tent city" camp was hastily erected in the Kara Tepe area hugging the coastline. The site has been condemned by humanitarian and aid organizations, NGOs, the media and opposition party SYRIZA, since it is exposed to the elements and has already flooded three times.
    There were apocalyptic scenes of families with small children wading through pools of dirty rainwater and mud last weekend, with some tents blown away by stormy winter weather conditions, laying bare the fragility of the facility.
    When you factor in the arrival of Covid-19, it's safe to say that for the thousands of people, which includes families with small children and other vulnerable groups, then it's easy to understand why mental health is a major issue.
    Among the 'highlights', or perhaps it's better to use the word lowlights, of the IRC's report - which is entitled 'Cruelty of Containment' - are that as many as three out of four of the people the IRC has assisted through its mental health programme on the three islands reported experiencing symptoms such as sleeping problems, depression and anxiety, while at least two out of five people reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and nearly one in ten had psychotic symptoms and were self-harming. Also, one in three people reported suicidal thoughts, while one in five reported having made attempts to take their lives.
    "There was an alarming spike in the number of people who disclosed psychotic symptoms, jumping from one in seven (14%) to almost one in four (24%)," the report stated. "There was also a sharp rise in people reporting symptoms of PTSD, which climbed from close to half (47%) of people beforehand to almost two in three people (63%) and in disclosures of self-harm, which jumped by 66%." The data was collected from 904 people supported by the IRC's mental health programmes on the islands of Lesvos, Chios and Samos, and is backed up by testimonies and interviews. This report sets out proposals for immediate action to improve the dire conditions they endure.
    There are numerous stories and quotes from interviewees within the report. This comment from a 16-year-old girl from Afghanistan staying at Moria in August 2020 sums up the mood: "We couldn't leave Moria [camp] to get to the beach or even sit under the trees. [Through six months of lockdown] we were stuck inside the camp and couldn't go outside without permission. I was worried, but my mother was very stressed. She cried all the time. Because of her health issues she was really afraid of Covid-19. She couldn't use the [communal] toilet because it was filthy and we couldn't even get soap to wash our hands." The 39-page report follows a similar IRC report published two years ago in September 2018, entitled 'Unprotected, Unsupported, Uncertain'. This report detailed the shortcomings at the heart of the EU's asylum and migration policies and their detrimental impact on the mental health of asylum-seekers living in Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesvos.
    Two years later, this new IRC report, drawing on fresh data spanning two and a half years to October 2020, sadly does not find an improved situation. Instead, the situation has worsened significantly.
    References: -The IRC have also released a video, entitled Courage to Continue, with several migrants offering their thoughts and insights into what life is like in Greece's much-criticized hotspots on the Aegean islands. You can watch the video here: https://www.rescue-uk.org/courage-to-continue -The full IRC report is available here: https://www.rescue-uk.org/sites/default/files/document/2389/crue ltyofcontainmentreport.pdf (ANSAmed).