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COVID-19: BBC Panorama investigates the squalid Greek refugee camps risking virus outbreak

13 Mar 20 | 31 May 21
This article is more than one year old

COVID-19: BBC Panorama investigates the squalid Greek refugee camps risking virus outbreak

At least 13,000 people are stranded in Moria, a camp originally designed to host 3,000 people Caption
At least 13,000 people are stranded in Moria, a camp originally designed to host 3,000 people

The overcrowded and horrific living conditions in the hotspot camps on the Greek islands provide the perfect storm for a COVID-19 outbreak, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has warned.

As the first COVID-19 cases have been confirmed on Lesbos, elsewhere on the island, evacuation of the camps has become more urgent than ever.

Now, the BBC's flagship current affairs show Panorama will broadcast a special investigation into the issue - Coronavirus Crisis: Europe’s Migrant Camps - on Monday 18 May at 19:30 on BBC One.

"It would be impossible to contain an outbreak in such camp settings in Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos. To this day, we have not seen a credible emergency plan to protect and treat people living there."

DR HILDE VOCHTEN
|
MSF MEDICAL COORDINATOR IN GREECE

These hotspots are characterised by chronic, extreme overcrowding, undignified and unhygienic living conditions, and lack of access to fundamental basic services – including healthcare.

As such, the risk of the virus spreading amongst the men, women and children living there is extremely high once they have been exposed.

Cramped conditions make infection prevention impossible

“In some parts of Moria camp there is just one water tap for every 1,300 people and no soap available. Families of five or six have to sleep in spaces of no more than three square metres. 

“This means that recommended measures such as frequent hand washing and social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus are just impossible,” explains Dr Hilde Vochten, MSF’s Medical Coordinator in Greece.

All over the world governments are cancelling events and prohibiting large gatherings, but on the Greek island camps, people have no option but to live in close proximity to each other.

Their health is in danger.

“We are in contact with the National Public Health Organization in order to coordinate actions, including health information and case management for local residents and asylum seekers alike,” added Dr Vochten.

“But we need to be realistic: it would be impossible to contain an outbreak in such camp settings in Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos. To this day we have not seen a credible emergency plan to protect and treat people living there in case of an outbreak.”

At MSF's out-patient department in Batil refugee camp Gandhi Pant, a nurse, escorts a patient with a possible appendicitis to a waiting ambulance. 

Batil is one of three camps in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State sheltering at least 113,000 refugees who have crossed the border from Blue Nile state to escape fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the SPLM-North armed group. Refugees arrive at the camp with harrowing stories of being bombed out of their homes, or having their villages burned. The camps into which they have poured are on a vast floodplain, leaving many tents flooded and refugees vulnerable to disease. Mortality rates in Batil camp are at emergency levels, malnutrition rates are more than five times above emergency thresholds, and diarrhea and malarial cases are rising.

Help us prepare for the next emergency

Containment policy could have deadly consequences

Health authorities must have a plan that includes measures for infection prevention and control, health promotion, rapid identification of cases, isolation and management of mild cases, as well as the treatment of severe and critical cases.

With none of these in place, the evacuation of the camps on the Greek islands is critical.

Forcing people to live there as part of Europe’s containment policy was always irresponsible but it is on the verge of becoming deadly if no action is taken to protect people.

"Families of five or six have to sleep in spaces of no more than three square metres. This means that recommended measures such as social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus are just impossible."

DR HILDE VOCHTEN
|
MSF MEDICAL COORDINATOR IN GREECE

There are 42,000 asylum seekers trapped on the five hotspots on the Greek islands, which only have the capacity to host 6,000 people in total.

In Lesbos, there are over 20,000 people living in a camp built for 2,840 and on Samos, there are 6,000 people living in a centre for 650 people.

Among them are many patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, who are extremely vulnerable to COVID-19.

The Greek government and Europe, including the UK, should act as soon as possible and transfer asylum seekers to appropriate accommodation before it’s too late.