(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).
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
