Δευτέρα 8 Αυγούστου 2016
PLEIADES - REPORT ON VASILIKA REFUGEE CAMP
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Based on information available on
29 July 2016
Written by Amer Al
Haj
Edited by Simona
Bonardi
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1 General........................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Introduction................................................................................................................ 3
1.2 Terminology............................................................................................................... 3
1.3 References................................................................................................................. 3
1.4 Disclaimer.................................................................................................................. 3
2 Living Conditions at Vasilika Reception Site................................................................. 3
2.1 General...................................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Capacity and Number of Residents............................................................................... 7
2.3 Shelter....................................................................................................................... 7
2.4 Environment and Safety............................................................................................... 9
2.5 Sanitation................................................................................................................. 13
2.5.1 Cleaning......................................................................................................................... 16
2.6 Services................................................................................................................... 17
2.6.1 Electricity....................................................................................................................... 17
2.6.2 Food.............................................................................................................................. 17
2.6.3 Health............................................................................................................................ 21
2.6.4 Services for Children....................................................................................................... 22
2.6.5 Internet.......................................................................................................................... 26
2.6.6 Legal Advice and Access to Asylum
Procedures.................................................................. 27
2.6.7 Warehouse and Goods Distribution................................................................................... 29
2.6.8 Security.......................................................................................................................... 30
2.7 Photo Credits............................................................................................................ 30
1 General
1.1 Introduction
The document describes the living conditions in
Vasilika refugee camp in Northern region, Greece.
1.2 Terminology
Term
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Description
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Remarks
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1.3 References
1.4 Disclaimer
Unless otherwise specified, the document reports
information available on 29 July 2016.
Due to rapidly changing circumstances, the limited
availability of official data and inconsistencies identified across a
multiplicity of (unofficial) sources, data accuracy and completeness may not be
guaranteed. However, all information is reported to the best knowledge of the
author, given in good faith, and selected across sources (including onsite
witnesses) and media deemed reliable.
2 Living Conditions at Vasilika Reception Site
2.1 General
The denomination Vasilika identifies a reception site in Thermi / Redostos municipality, in Northern region of
Greece.
The site is located South East of Thessaloniki.
The camp can be reached by bus from the city with one change: first, one
bus from the centre to the change station, then a second bus from here to the
camp, for a total journey duration of three hours (one hour each bus trip plus
one hour average wait). The cost of the bus ticket is 1.20 euros. It is
reported that the bus often does not stop to pick up passengers waiting at the
camp, thus further increasing the waiting time and the total journey duration.
One coordinator from UNHCR is
assigned to the camp and cooperates with the army.
The camp is open for unrestricted
exit and people normally leave the camp to go shopping for food and groceries.
The official NGOs allowed in the
camp are: UNHCR, InterVolve, WAHA, MDM, Save The Children. All organizations
report to UNHCR. Independent volunteers and journalists are not allowed. A
number of organizations willing to provide additional medical assistance and
services for the camp’s residents failed to obtain authorization and were
unable to operate.
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| Environment |
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| Environment |
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| Environment |
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| Environment |
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| Environment |
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| Some organization did not succeed to obtain registration to provide assistance in the camp and were forced to leave |
2.2 Capacity and Number of Residents
The
predominant nationality at the site is Syrian (92% of the total).
Approximately
16% of the total number are children and 27% are women.
Information
regarding age distribution and the number of people with special needs has been
made available thanks to the volunteer work of camp’s residents.
M
|
F
|
Children
(<12 yrs
old)
|
|
Syrian
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54%
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25%
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13%
|
Iraqi
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3%
|
2%
|
3%
|
Total
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57%
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27%
|
16%
|
According to UNHCR [3], capacity is 1,500 and the current
number of residents is 1,229. This number was the number of residents at the
creation of the camp when the camp was initially established (13 June 2016) by
moving the residents of EKO Polykastro Gas Station and it is currently highly
inaccurate. The number changes daily due to people leaving the camp (housing,
smugglers, self-deportation). The actual number of residents is currently
estimated around 1,000.
Kurdish minority is present at the
camp. There are no Yazidis.
2.3 Shelter
Camp consists of ten large halls which
used to be storage warehouses for wheat. The government rents the space for use
as a camp for 12,000 euros per month. Each hangar includes 30 to 40 tents for a
total number of tents of 313 in the whole camp.
Camp’s residents sleep in tents
inside the hangars / halls. Hangars are very crowded, with virtually no space
between tents, which are semi-detached. Each person was provided with a blanket
by UNHCR and a sleeping bag and an army bed (generally too small / narrow and
deemed unusable) by the army.
The camp’s ground is made of
cement inside the halls and gravel outside.
There are three fans in each
hangar.
Each hangar has a fridge (whether
donated or provided by the camp management is unknown) for communal use.
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| Shelters / Hangars |
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| Shelters / Tents |
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| Shelters / Tents |
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| Army bed |
2.4 Environment and Safety
The buildings are open and offer neither
heating nor air conditioning.
Halls have ceilings, which
provide protection against rain and alleviate the effect of the direct sunlight.
During the day, the temperature is sweltering and reaches 45 degrees Celsius inside
the halls.
Camp is surrounded by a fence 2.5
metres high and is close to a highly trafficked road, with vehicles travelling
at high speed. At least one incident was reported (camp resident ran over by a
car).
The fence is broken in the front,
just a few metres from the road. Children often play outside of the camp and on
the edge of the road, exposed to danger. There is a dedicated space for
children inside the camp, but it is empty and not equipped with any item or
material for children’s activities.
Snakes are often found in the
camp and in the hangars, in between tents.
Mice and rats are found every day
inside and outside the hangars. They are also found inside tents because tents
cannot be closed and the hangars’ doors cannot be properly closed.
There are occasional fights among
the residents, however there were never serious injuries reported. The Police
does not take any action when fights occur.
When the camp was established (13
June 2016), groups of locals threw stones to camp’s residents for two nights.
Police took action against that.
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| Snakes are often found at the camp’s premises, both outdoor and indoor |
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| No appropriate facilities to hang the laundry. The camp is populated with mice, rats, snakes. |
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| Highly trafficked road just outside of the camp’s fence |
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| Highly trafficked road just outside of the camp’s fence |
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| Broken fence with direct access to the trafficked road |
2.5 Sanitation
According to UNHCR [2], each site should be
equipped with 1 toilet per 20 individuals, 1 shower per 50 individuals, 1 water
tap per 250 individuals, 1 hygiene promoter per 1000 individuals.
The camp has are 50 bathrooms and
80 toilets. There are 3 toilets and 2 separate bathrooms for people with
special needs. Following an early request by the camp’s residents to replace
some toilets and introduce Turkish ones, UNHCR committed to take action;
however, nothing happened since. The facilities are deemed of acceptable
quality, however the cleaning frequency is considered insufficient.
There are no separate shower
facilities for men and women. Although toilets are marked for men / women use,
they are promiscuously used.
There are solar panels to heat
the water. However, there seems to be a malfunction or an issue with the
configuration of the panels because in the morning water is too hot to shower
and there are no controls to regulate the temperature of the water flow by
users. For the rest of the day, people warm water leaving bottles in the sun.
There are 50 water faucets. The
water supply is sometimes interrupted for hours without an alternative option.
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| Shower box for disabled people or people with limited mobility |
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| Warming water in the sun for use to shower. The solar panels make the hot water too hot for use and there are no controls to regulate the water temperature in the showers. |
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| Water taps |
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| Toilets |
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| Toilet. Although marked, toilet facilities are promiscuously used by men and women. |
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| Shower. There are no separate shower facilities for men and women. |
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| Fault with the water flushing |
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| The issue persisted for about a month |
2.5.1Cleaning
Cleaning is carried out twice a
day by the Army. Garbage containers are emptied with the same frequency.
Cleaning is currently deemed as
insufficient. The camp is infested with mice and rats.
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| Cleaning and garbage collection, performed twice a day, is currently deemed as insufficient. The camp is infested with mice and rats. |
2.6 Services
2.6.1Electricity
According to UNHCR, electricity is available all day.
Power
supply is available to all tents throughout the day via power extension cables.
Safety standards are poor and are cause for concern among the camp’s residents.
2.6.2Food
According to UNHCR, 3 or more
meals per day are distributed and cover 100% of the people.
Food distribution is care of the Army,
with an officer appointed to monitor the distribution, which happens twice a
day: the first at 12:00, including lunch, the second at 18:00, including dinner
and breakfast for the next day. The quality of food is extremely poor and
approximately 60% of the food is thrown away uneaten on a daily basis. Some
invest effort in re-cooking the food distributed / received.
Breakfast is similar every day (one
piece of cheese, bread, croissant). Dinner and lunch are different every day though
not nutritious or balanced in terms of dietary needs.
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| Mean re-cooking |
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| Meal re-cooking |
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| Camp food |
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| Camp food |
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| Camp food |
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| Camp food |
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| Camp food |
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| Camp food |
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| Camp food |
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| Camp food |
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| Camp food |
2.6.2.1 Baby Food
Baby food is distributed twice a
day and includes crushed pills and canned milk.
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| Canned milk distributed for children |
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| Baby Meal |
2.6.3Health
According to UNHCR, there should
be a health facility onsite or less than 5km away from each reception site.
There are clinic in the cam. It
functions 6 days per week, except on Sundays, for a period of 7 hours a day (WAHA,
MDM). Each team has a generic medical doctor, an Arabic interpreter (often a
camp’s resident) and one or more nurses. Average wait is between 1 and 3 hours
depending on the number of patients. A dentist is available once every 15 days
– the waiting occurs outside of the clinic. There are no OBGYN doctors or
paediatricians.
Vaccination praxis undergone by
new-born children is unclear and in appearance inconsistent. For babies born at
the hospital, some of the vaccines may be delivered immediately after birth and
others may be planned on a personal vaccination record card. However, this
could not be confirmed. In general, children’s access to compulsory
vaccinations remains uncertain and poses serious reasons for concern.
Highly specialized medical services may not be provided at the sites’ premises. More difficult cases are therefore referred to local hospitals in Thessaloniki.
Highly specialized medical services may not be provided at the sites’ premises. More difficult cases are therefore referred to local hospitals in Thessaloniki.
The average wait for an ambulance
is 45 minutes. Patients are taken to the nearest adults’ hospital.
So far, one child presenting
severe diarrhoea and fever has been detained in the hospital when accompanying
his mother to give birth.
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| Waiting area for doctor’s visit. The doctor’s visits happen in the small office on the right-hand side (grey door) |
2.6.4Services for Children
There are no planned or organized
activities for the children, with the exception of occasional entertainment /
games improvised by volunteers (inside or outside the camp).
Save The Children distributes
towels and milk. They have an office within the camp open seven hours a day
except Sunday.
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| Children’s activities |
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| Children’s activities |
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| Children’s space |
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| Children's activities |
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| Children playing on the edge of highly trafficked road bordering the camp |
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| Children playing on the edge of highly trafficked road bordering the camp |
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| Children's activities |
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| Children's activities |
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| Children's activities |
2.6.5Internet
According to UNHCR, WiFi Internet
access is available.
There is poor WiFi Internet access at the
camp’s site. The Wi-Fi network is care of the company Net-Hop. However,
it is reported that the network does not work well, with often very weak signal
and several tents not covered by the network. Issues are not being addressed,
which poses questions regarding the actual will to improve the situation by the
camp management versus the actual availability of the required skills.
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| Camp's internet router |
2.6.6Legal Advice and Access to Asylum Procedures
According to UNHCR [3], a mobile UNHCR team
is assigned to the camp.
There is no UNHCR office at the
camp, however every day (except Saturdays and Sundays), for seven hours per
day, a UNHCR officer coordinates dates of interviews for families applying for
reunion, coordinates activities with the Army, the police, and organizations
present at the camp. The UNHCR officer is the official point of contact for any
inquiry.
During the first week of July,
pre-registration was carried out at the camp.
The pre-registration was
announced to camp’s residents one day before. Communication was made by a UNHCR
representative. About 70% of the people were aware of what was about to happen.
On the day of pre-registration, people
stood in line from 9:00am. Information was provided by one EASO and one UNHCR
representatives. The average wait in line was 20-30 minutes per person – not everyone
stood in line at once and people were called to line in groups with reasonable
notice. The waiting occurred in an empty building, sheltered from sun. Two
lines were served. The service was fulfilled by three people: one to check the
applicant’s police documents, one to provide a bracelet (tracking the
successful pre-registration and pre-registration number) and a translator. People
were consistently interviewed: they were requested to exhibit the deportation
suspension order issued by Greek Police and asked whether they were travelling alone
or with family. Other ID documents were not relevant / considered (e.g.
passport). The pre-registration completed for each applicant without need to
sign any document or receipt.
Pre-registration cards were
collected by the applicants at the premises of a restricted military area. People
were divided in groups assigned to different morning slots and transferred from the camp by
bus. At the premises, applicants were interviewed (nationality, faith, education, spoken languages), photographed for the document, and asked to sign (content of the document signed is unknown). Cards were printed onsite and collected immediately. Applicants were not allowed to be accompanied / assisted by their
appointed lawyer in the process. The poor organization forced people to be
waiting for the return transfer for hours under the sun with no food or water.
Among them, children, elderly people, pregnant women, individuals with
disabilities.
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| During the reception of the asylum seeker cards after pre-registration, hundreds of Vasilika residents wanted to be assisted by Pleiades lawyers on the spot. The lawyers were obstructed by private security from entering the space (where the cards were being received by their clients), invoking "orders of UNHCR". The police was called on the spot by the lawyers. Although an Asylum Service's official was sought for, only UNHCR and EASO representatives were actually present. (In the photo, the lawyer is the blond woman in the middle of the circle.) |
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| Wait for the return bus ride outside of the military area after collection of pre-registration cards |
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| People were left stranded on the pavement without assistance, food, water. A guard gave some bottled water from his personal stock. |
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| Wait for the return bus ride outside of the military area after collection of pre-registration cards |
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| Wait for the return bus ride outside of the military area after collection of pre-registration cards |
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| Wait for the return bus ride outside of the military area after collection of pre-registration cards |
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| Wait for the return bus ride outside of the military area after collection of pre-registration cards |
2.6.7Warehouse and Goods Distribution
There is an empty hangar used for
storing and distributing goods such as toiletries and cleaning products. The
items are distributed via appointed representatives of the camp’s residents,
five representatives for each hangar who in turn distribute to the respective
hangar’s tents.
Clothes were never distributed
since the establishment of the camp. Underwear was distributed once.
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| Warehouse |
2.6.8Security
According to UNHCR [3], security is provided
by Hellenic Police.
Police officers, available 24
hours, are in charge for camp’s security.
2.7 Photo Credits
Unless
otherwise specified, photo credits are Amer Al Haj’s with the exception of images in section 2.6.6, by Simona Bonardi.
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