- Title: Trapped migrants on Greek island see no end to their misery
- Date: 19th June 2017
- Summary: CHIOS, GREECE (JUNE 16, 2017) (REUTERS) ROWS OF TENTS AND CONTAINERS SET UP SIDE BY SIDE BELOW ISLAND'S MEDIEVAL CASTLE WALLS IN MAKESHIFT CAMP VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING IN PATHWAY BETWEEN CONTAINERS VARIOUS OF SEVERAL MIGRANTS HUDDLED TOGETHER ON A BLANKET IN THE SHADE BY CONTAINER ROWS OF TENTS AND CONTAINERS BETWEEN CASTLE WALLS AND RESIDENCES/ SEA AND BOATS IN BACKGROUND YOUNG MIGRANT WOMAN SITTING ON A BLANKET UNDER THE SHADE OF A TREE WITH TODDLER AND AN INFANT TO ESCAPE THE HOT SUN MIGRANT WOMAN AND TODDLER WOMAN STROKING INFANT ON BLANKET (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIGRANT FROM SYRIA, RAFAT, AGED 22, WHOSE ASYLUM APPLICATION WAS REJECTED, SAYING: "It's difficult here, difficult, the situation here is very difficult. And they don't care about us, they don't care if we sleep in the street, if we sleep in the road, they don't care, they don't care. All that they give us is the promise, the promise, the promise." VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS OF ALL AGES WALKING AMONGST BARBED WIRE FENCES AND CONTAINER BOXES IN THE ISLAND'S OFFICIAL CAMP MAN BY CONTAINER AND EXPOSED PIPES WASHING HIS TEETH USING A BOTTLE OF WATER MIGRANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN STANDING IN A GROUP (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIGRANT FROM IRAN, SAID, AGED 33, WHO HAS BEEN ON CHIOS SEVEN MONTHS, SAYING: "We wait for a long time here, no answer, every time we come here, wait, wait, wait, and here we have no decent (decency) almost, everybody, not me, just. We have so many problems, fight(ing) here, also... We just don't know about the future." VARIOUS OF DOZENS OF MIGRANT TENTS PITCHED ON A SWIMMING BEACH NEAR THE SHORE, THEIR WET CLOTHES HANGING ON ROPE IN BETWEEN TENTS MIGRANTS STANDING BY THEIR TENTS ON BEACH NEAR THE SHORE TWO LITTLE BOYS SITTING ON BEACH AND WATCHING ANOTHER LITTLE BOY IN THE SEA FLOATING ON A LARGE PIECE OF STYROFOAM LITTLE BOY SWIMMING WITH A BROKEN PIECE OF STYROFOAM CHILDREN PADDLING ON PIECES OF STYROFOAM/ MAN STANDING ON SHORE VARIOUS OF FAMILY SITTING ON BLANKET AT ENTRANCE TO THEIR TENT AND TWO CHILDREN PLAYING WITH A BABY TODDLER EATING AN APPLE WOMAN KISSING BABY YOUNG MEN SITTING INSIDE THEIR TENTS ON THE BEACH GROUP OF YOUNG MEN FROM PAKISTAN, INCLUDING MUHAMMAD UMER, SITTING INSIDE SHADE OF TENT (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIGRANT FROM PAKISTAN, MUHAMMAD UMER, AGED 23, SAYING: "There is no life, very big difficulty here. Mouse at night enter in the camp, they bite us, snake also here, and we afraid from night, we not sleep." CHIOS, GREECE (JUNE 15, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DOZENS OF CHIOS RESIDENTS AT A RALLY IN PROTEST AGAINST MIGRANT CAMPS ON THE ISLAND, ORGANIZED BY THE 'PAN-CHIOT RESIDENTS MOVEMENT' VARIOUS OF MEMBER OF PAN-CHIOT RESIDENTS' MOVEMENT, GIORGOS AGIORGOUSIS, ADDRESSING CROWD CHIOS, GREECE (JUNE 16, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) CIVIL ENGINEER AND MEMBER OF PAN-CHIOT RESIDENTS' MOVEMENT, GIORGOS AGIORGOUSIS, AGED 48, SAYING: "It is very difficult to walk around at night. There have been many petty crimes - thefts, attacks on women, attempted rapes. They have a lot of problems amongst each other, Souda (camp in moat) has become a theatre for confrontations between various nationalities." VARIOUS OF TENTS ON BEACH/ CASTLE WALLS IN BACKGROUND TENTS BY BEACH AND MIGRANTS ON BEACH VARIOUS OF MIGRANT FROM IRAQ, A FORMER POLICEMAN, COOKING CHICKEN ON MAKESHIFT FIRE ON SHORE RATS RUNNING ON BEACH AROUND TENTS AND PAUSING BY HOLE/ ANOTHER, LARGER, RAT RUNNING TOWARD IT LARGER RAT SNIFFING AT SMALLER ONE, SMALLER ONE MOVING AWAY CAT ON BEACH TWITCHING ITS TAIL CAT WALKING BY TENT ON BEACH RAT COMING OUT OF HOLE VARIOUS OF MIGRANT CHILDREN WATCHING TOM AND JERRY CARTOONS ON PROJECTOR SET UP BY LOCAL VOLUNTEERS (NIGHT SHOTS) VARIOUS OF TENTS ON BEACH BY CASTLE WALLS/ LIGHTS REFLECTING ON SEA (NIGHT SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 3rd July 2017 12:36
- Keywords: Greece refugees migrants camp Turkey EU
- Location: CHIOS, GREECE
- City: CHIOS, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016LY1JRB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Camped out on a beach, in the moat of a medieval castle and an abandoned factory, thousands of migrants on the Greek island of Chios despair of ever moving on or re-starting their lives, while more continue to arrive and local residents' patience has reached its limit.
At night, rats scuttle around the camp among the remains of meals, and migrants say the rats come into their tents and bite them as they try to sleep.
More than a year after an EU-Turkey deal that stemmed the large refugee flows from Turkey's shores to Greece, refugees and migrants languish for months without work or money in overcrowded and unsanitary camps, waiting for a verdict on their asylum claims.
The asylum process is lengthy and can take several months. Some have been waiting more than a year. Appealing a negative decision prolongs the procedure.
Rafat, a 22-year-old Syrian whose asylum application was rejected five months ago and is waiting for his appeal, says he feels abandoned by the authorities. If he does not get asylum he says his only fate is to go back to Syria, as Turkey was not safe for him, and be forced to join the army or a militia.
Said, a 33-year-old folk singer fleeing religious persecution in Iran says he registered for asylum seven months ago, and has not heard back from anyone.
The two live in containers on the island's official Vial camp, a former factory, which has room for just over 1000, but nearly 2000 are crammed inside. Another 2000 are living in UNHCR containers and tents in Souda camp, by the castle's moat that have now spilled over onto a swimming beach. And more keep arriving.
There is not enough water for people to wash or bathrooms, and nowhere to keep cool during the hot summer months. During the day, children paddle in the sea with pieces of styrofoam and adults idly huddle in hot tents or under the shade of trees, and temperatures will only get hotter. The food is never enough, they say, and they fear for their safety after violence in the camps.
Frustration is also rising amongst the island's residents, who have staged protests against the camps, claiming that the locals do not want to venture out at night as there is an increase in violence, robberies, drug and alcohol use, even attempted rapes by migrants, and that tourists are shying away from an island now seen as a destination for migrants, not holidaymakers.
The Greek government's latest figures show that 14,000 migrants are on five Aegean islands, with about 4,000 on Chios alone. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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