Refugees brave snow, sub-zero temperatures in Greek camps

Record ID: 163702

  • Title: Refugees brave snow, sub-zero temperatures in Greek camps
  • Date: 10th January 2017
  • Summary: RITSONA, GREECE (JANUARY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) SNOW FALLING IN MIGRANT CAMP 80 KILOMETRES OUTSIDE ATHENS VARIOUS OF TWO MEN STANDING IN THE SNOW BY CONTAINER HOUSING AS THICK SNOW FALLS MAN AND WOMAN EACH CARRYING A TODDLER IN THEIR ARMS AND WALKING AS SNOW FALLS CHILD HOLDING A TODDLER'S HAND AS THEY WALK THROUGH THE SNOW TOGETHER MIGRANTS THROWING SNOWBALLS AT EACH OTHER SNOWMAN PLACED OUTSIDE CONTAINER / MIGRANTS PLAYING WITH SNOW CHILDREN STANDING IN THE SNOW CHILD EATING SNOW VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS USING BROOMS TO REMOVE PILES OF SNOW FROM TARPS OVER ENTRANCE TO CONTAINERS CHILD MAKING A SNOWBALL MAN HOLDING TODDLER IN HIS ARMS AS SNOW FALLS VARIOUS OF SNOW-COVERED CLOTHES HANGING ON FENCE AS MORE SNOW FALLS MAN BREAKING TREE BRANCH TO THROW ON CAMPFIRE SNOW-COVERED BRANCHES ON FIRE / MAN PLACING BRANCH ON FIRE WOMAN AND CHILD LOOKING AT SNOWFALL FROM CONTAINER WINDOW MEN COVERING CONTAINER WITH PLASTIC TARP (SOUNDBITE)(English) MIGRANT FROM SYRIA, ROSTAM, SAYING: "It's very cold for children, very cold you see, yes, it's not like Syria or another country, here, outside, (not) in the city and we haven't a city near." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING IN SNOW AS SNOW FALLS VARIOUS OF CHILDREN MAKING A SNOWMAN AS SNOW FALLS CHILDREN WALKING IN THE SNOW VARIOUS OF CHILD WALKING IN SNOW WITH SHOES THAT ARE TOO LARGE CHILD STEPPING OUT OF TOO-LARGE SHOES AND ENTERING CONTAINER VARIOUS OF SNOW-COVERED CLOTHES HANGING ON CLOTHESLINE HANGING BETWEEN CONTAINERS (SOUNDBITE)(English) MIGRANT FROM SYRIA, AHMAD, SAYING: "Generally, it is cold, very cold now. Inside the "Isoboxes" (containers) it is okay, but some "Isoboxes" they some have problems with the (air) conditioners, maybe don't work, maybe there is some problems with the water, sometimes, but generally it is better than the tents, okay, you can, like (have) a small home." CHILDREN STANDING IN SNOW / SIGN ON TREE READING: (English) "HOME IS WHERE YOUR MOM IS" CHILDREN PLAYING IN THE SNOW AS SNOW FALLS CHILDREN PLAYING IN SNOW / SIGN ON TREE SIGN ON TREE READING: (English) "HOME IS WHERE YOUR MOM IS"
  • Embargoed: 24th January 2017 16:48
  • Keywords: Greece migrants refugees camps snow conditions
  • Location: RITSONA, GREECE
  • City: RITSONA, GREECE
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015YI1SG7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Migrants stranded in Greece suffered sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall on Tuesday (January 10) at camps not designed for winter weather.
    A mid-winter icy spell and snowstorms have gripped central and southeastern Europe for days, and parts of Greece have been covered in rare snow with temperatures dipping to -20 degrees Celsius this week. Snow also fell in downtown Athens on Tuesday.
    At a camp near the village of Ritsona, about 80 kilometers north of Athens, temperatures hovered at -1 degrees Celsius as thick snow fell.
    The camp, where several hundred migrants have been living for months, is a collection of containers in a forest where clothes left on hanging on lines outdoors had frozen stiff.
    As children built snowmen and held snowball fights, the adults covered the containers with plastic tarps and used tree branches to make fires.
    "It's very cold for children, very cold you see, yes, it's not like Syria or another country, here, outside, (not) in the city and we haven't a city near," said Rostam, a 34-year-old Syrian Kurd who has been living in Ritsona for 10 months with his wife and three young children.
    More than 60,000 refugees and migrants have been trapped in Greece since Balkan countries along the main, northward overland route to wealthy western Europe sealed their borders last March. Most now live in overcrowded camps in abandoned factories or warehouses, or in tents which lack insulation or heating.
    Conditions were considerably worse on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, where more than 5,000 asylum seekers have been waiting for months for their applications to be processed.
    On Tuesday, the government said it was sending a naval ship to Lesbos to accommodate migrants. It was also scrambling to transfer other migrants to hotels.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register