In Athens, refugees pay to live in small apartments which accommodate up to 22 people. They often fall victim to exploitation by their compatriots. But sometimes the masafarhánas offer them the forgotten feeling of home.
On the move
Unaccompanied minors: The fear of adulthood
Like most teenagers in Europe, they should be waiting for their 18th birthday with excitement and impatience. But for the thousands of asylum seekers who are unaccompanied minors, the day they turn 18 – when they go from being minors in need of protection to being regarded as “men” and even “foreigners” – is a day accompanied by anxiety about what tomorrow might bring and by the fear of deportation.
Greece’s vaccination policy for the undocumented: Confused
An interview with data journalist Eva Constantaras on Lighthouse Reports’ recent cross-border investigation on Europe’s policies to vaccinate its undocumented population
Building economies within walls
Ritsona is the largest refugee camp on Greece’s mainland. Excluded from the region’s social and economic network long before the pandemic, the camp gradually acquired its own life. Today, with new surveillance technologies being installed at the camp, there are growing fears that the camp community will become completely isolated.
Congolese minor suing Frontex: “I thought that the law is upheld in Europe”
A.N., a young woman from Burundi, was recently granted asylum in Greece. However, her struggle continues. She is suing Frontex, for the first time in the history of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, for complicity in two pushback incidents that she claims preceded her asylum. The case is co-signed by an unaccompanied minor from the Democratic Republic of the Congo – who claims that he has been pushed backed to Turkey three times, where he currently remains.
The perilous border crossing “game” in Bosnia
Migrant people stranded at the Bosnian border wait for the right moment to try their hand at the “game”. Normally they must try multiple times due to violent pushbacks by border forces.
The protectors of refugee children
They are probably the first and only doctors to examine young refugees who arrive in Athens. The pediatricians Stavroula Dikalioti and Smaragda Papachristidou – due to their efforts and personal interest – have managed to facilitate the refugees’ access to public health, which is provided at no cost, but remains a complicated maze to navigate.
There is no escape from violence for LGBTQI+ asylum seekers
They flee their countries because of violence and persecution. Once in Europe, they face discrimination again. “We have been repeating that for years: the camps are not a safe place for LGBTQI+ asylum seekers.”
“What does Europe want to achieve? That we will all commit suicide one day?”
A new refugee camp on Samos is almost ready. Nobody knows if it will be an open or a closed facility. One thing is for sure, though: the prospect of confinement in the middle of nowhere leads to the deterioration of asylum seekers’ mental health.