Horrific sanitary conditions, lack of food, and police beatings: just some of the conditions migrants in Greek camps are subjected to, according to a new report. The situation for children is particularly precarious.
Image: Reuters/A. Konstantinidis
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The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) raised concerns Tuesday over the "inhuman and degrading" conditions in Greece's refugee camps.
The committee's report said the situation was particularly alarming at the Fylakio camp near the Turkish border — one of the "hot spots" set up with backing from the EU to speed up refugee processing.
Rejection from Athens: The Greek government said in a statement that it had not found evidence to back up allegations of police violence against refugees. It also stressed that the poor conditions in the camps had been compounded by an increase in migrants coming over the Turkish border in early 2018 — around the time the CPT's experts carried out their inspection.
Greece under pressure: Under current EU rules, asylum claims must be processed by the country where migrants and refugees first land. That has placed a huge burden on Greece — a main entry point for asylum seekers hoping to stay in Europe. Although the number of new arrivals has dropped off since the peak of the refugee crisis in 2015-16, groups of migrants are still arriving daily in Greece, where reception centers and camps are already overflowing. Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the state of living conditions in the facilities. The EU has set aside almost €510 million ($576 million) to help Athens accommodate refugees until 2020.
Anti-torture watchdog: The Council of Europe's CPT is tasked with monitoring compliance with the European Anti-Torture Convention. Members of the committee's panel include doctors, law enforcement experts and psychologists. The delegation has been visiting refugee camps in Greece since 2005.
The deadly Evros River borderland
What happens to the bodies of refugees and their belongings found at the natural border between Greece and Turkey? Marianna Karakoulaki visited a morgue in Alexandroupoli to find out.
Image: Reuters/A. Konstantinidis
Dangerous crossing
The Evros River, which is the natural land border between Greece and Turkey, is one of the most notorious border crossings. Over the years, thousands of people have died there trying to cross into Europe.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/E. Yildiz
The morgue
To date this year, 29 people have been discovered dead at the Greek-Turkish border along the river. Due to the rising number of people that are found, the International Committee of the Red Cross has donated a fridge container for the dead. There are currently 15 bodies at the morgue. The most recent case was a 15-year-old boy.
Image: DW/M.Karakoulaki
International help
The International Committee of the Red Cross donated one fridge container to the hospital of Alexandroupolis as the morgue did not have the capacity to keep the rising number of dead refugees who are discovered in the Evros region.
Image: DW/M.Karakoulaki
Looking after the dead
Hunters, fishermen or the authorities that patrol the area usually discover the bodies at the river. When someone is found, the police are the first to arrive in order to investigate the scene and take photos. The dead then are taken to the morgue where the coroner, Pavlos Pavlidis, looks for identification marks such as tattoos or other personal items, and takes DNA samples.
Image: DW/M.Karakoulaki
Cause of death
According to the coroner, Pavlos Pavlidis, the main cause of death among refugees who are discovered at the Greek-Turkish border is drowning. "70 percent of deaths are caused by drowning followed by hypothermia. Lately we have been noticing a rise of deaths as a result of road and train accidents," he told DW.
Image: DW/M.Karakoulaki
Personal items
Coroner Pavlos Pavlidis keeps the personal items that belonged to refugees who have been found on the river's banks in plastic bags to help with the identification process.
Image: DW/M.Karakoulaki
A tough but necessary job
It's a painstaking process to mark and bag the personal items of the dead refugees. "The items we come across most are objects that are not usually destroyed by water," Pavlidis said.
Image: DW/M.Karakoulaki
Lost rings
The most common personal items that are found on the bodies of refugees are jewelry such as rings, necklaces and generally metal objects. "Clothes and official documents such as passports are usually destroyed by the water," Pavlidis said.
Image: DW/M.Karakoulaki
Death and religion
Religious items, from various religions, are also very common discoveries on those who are found on the Evros River. Once someone is identified, their personal items are returned to their family.
Image: DW/M.Karakoulaki
Rest in peace
If someone is identified, their body is returned to their family. If not, after a few months, Greek authorities arrange the buriel either at the Muslim cemetery in the village of Sidiro, or at the Christian cemetery of Orestiada. The gravestone above reads: "He remains — Our beloved whom we lost, Mustafa Rahwan — Aleppo Syria, 1983-2014."
