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Gallery|Refugees

Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain

More than 6,000 people live in Moria, a closed refugee camp designed to fit only 2,000.

Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Moria, a partially closed camp, is officially home to at least 6,000 refugees and migrants, but residents say the number is much higher. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
By Patrick Strickland
Published On 10 Dec 201710 Dec 2017
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Moria camp, Greece – A group of men stand in a lengthy queue waiting for bread outside the Moria refugee camp as day breaks on Greece’s Lesbos Island.

Beyond them, an olive grove is blanketed with tents. Children play in the rubbish-lined field next to Moria, a refugee camp enclosed with barbed-wire fencing and patrolled by Greek police officers.

Although Moria was built with a capacity of 2,000, more than 6,000 people, among them children, currently live in the decrepit camp.

Basil, a 41-year-old Nigerian who declined to provide his surname, has been in Moria for more than a year while waiting for Greek authorities to process his asylum application. “I’ve been wearing the same clothes every day,” he told Al Jazeera while sitting on a weather-worn wooden bench outside the camp.

“We came here for help,” he continued. “But it’s a ghetto here … God sees what they [Greece] are doing to us here.”

Ely Qias, 16, fled war-torn Afghanistan with her mother and seven siblings before arriving in Greece nearly two months ago.

After living in Moria for two weeks, they moved out and squatted in a central square in Mytline, a nearby town, for more than a month.

“Before we came to Moria, we didn’t know it was like a prison or this dirty,” she told Al Jazeera. “We ate the food once or twice, but we couldn’t after that. We were throwing up.”

Rights groups and aid organisations have called on the Greek government to transfer refugees and migrants on islands to the country’s mainland. Yet, save for exceptions, asylum seekers are barred from leaving the islands until their claims are processed.

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Last winter, at least three people died in Moria amid freezing temperatures.

At the time of publication, Greece’s migration ministry had not replied to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

On Friday, the Greek government announced its intention to transfer around 5,000 refugees to the mainland to ease the mounting pressure on the islands. 

“The Greek government’s decision to move 5,000 people from the islands by December 15 is an important first step, and we recognise the efforts required to accomplish this,” Jana Frey, the International Rescue Committee’s country director in Greece, told Al Jazeera. 

“That said, at least 7,000 people need to be transferred before the start of winter, to ensure no one is left out in the cold.”

Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Many asylum seekers have been in Moria for well over a year while waiting for their applications to be processed. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
At least 25,000 people have made the journey from Turkey to Greece so far this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Between August and November, at least 37 percent of the arrivals were women and children, according to the UN. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
An Iraqi man who declined to provide his name constructed a makeshift home to keep himself safe from the rain and snow. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Hundreds of refugees and migrants, among them children, live in flimsy tents in the olive grove next to Moria. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Residents of Moria say the toilets and showers are constantly broken and they are forced to use the restroom in nature. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
An Afghan girl plays in the olive grove outside her family's small tent. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
An Afghan woman hangs her laundry to dry in the field next to Moria after hand-washing the clothing in a bucket. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
'Our only homeland is our childhood dreams,' reads graffiti in Greek on a building next to Moria. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
While many residents complain of poor food in Moria and other camps, a man cooks on a campfire in a field. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Rights groups have said the poor living conditions in Moria are particularly challenging for children and other vulnerable populations. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Refugees in Greece’s Lesbos left in the cold and rain [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
Aid groups and human rights watchdogs have urged the Greek government to provide proper housing for refugees as winter approaches. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]


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