Greece: Inhumane Detention of Migrants Sparks Aid Groups Protest

Edited by Pavel Jacomino
2016-03-24 16:34:57

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Athens, March 24 (RHC)-- Oxfam has denounced that the EU-Turkey migration deal aimed at stemming arrivals to Greece is forcing refugees and migrants into detention centers where rights are not guaranteed. The aid group halted operations at a Greek island camp on Thursday to reject the inhumane conditions and violation of rights under the new rules.

“It is incomprehensible how Europe has basically suspended the rights of these people who are looking for protection in Greece,” said Oxfam representative in Greece, Giovanni Riccardi Candiani, in a statement.

The EU-Turkey migration deal, which took effect on Sunday, keeps migrants and refugees in detention until asylum claims are processed.

Oxfam suspended activities at the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, saying that the deal and the conditions it imposes on migrants and refugees goes against the organization’s principles of providing humanitarian need with a guarantee of basic rights for those in need.

Doctors Without Borders also suspended work in the Moria camp earlier this week to protest it being turned into a detention center. The Norwegian Refugee Council has done the same on the Greek island of Chios.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also refused to assist in transferring migrants and refugees in Greece to the newly mandated detention centers. The refugee agency argued that the EU-Turkey deal was premature and did not include necessary safeguards to protect vulnerable migrants and refugees.



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