In Pictures

Gallery|Human Rights

Life in Greece’s Elliniko refugee camp

More than 62,000 refugees and migrants have been stuck in Greece since borders closed across the Balkans in March 2016.

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Elliniko camp, on the outskirts of Athens, first opened when the Macedonian border closed to many nationalities in November 2015. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
By Patrick Strickland
Published On 2 May 2017

Elliniko, Greece – Wet clothes were draped from the chain-link fence spanning the perimeter of the dilapidated airport hangar now being used to house hundreds of refugees and migrants, mostly Afghans, on an April afternoon. 

A pair of young boys hit a volleyball back and forth in the rubbish-ridden car park, playing a seemingly endless game with neither a score nor a net. 

Most of Elliniko’s residents live in tents inside the domestic arrivals terminal, or in a pair of deserted Olympic sports stadiums behind the out-of-business airport on the outskirts of the Greek capital, Athens.

Lucy Carrigan, the regional coordinator of communications at the International Rescue Committee, says that the lack of “ownership” refugees and migrants feel over their lives has contributed to increasing anger and frustration in the camps. 

READ MORE: Concern over EU plans to send refugees back to Greece

“It doesn’t matter what you did before you fled war – you may have been a hat maker, a doctor, a lawyer, a gynaecologist or a college professor – in Greece it feels like all you are is a number,” she told Al Jazeera.

“The process is dehumanising,” Carrigan added. “These people came to Europe full of hope. They had high expectations. Now they are floundering.”

Greece’s Ministry of Migration refused to comment on conditions in camps and other state-run accommodation for more than 62,000 refugees and migrants across the country.

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About half of the camp's residents are children, according to NGOs. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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The Greek government plans to relocate Afghans living in the airport hangar to a distant camp in Thebes. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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Elliniko's population fluctuates. Many camp residents hope to move on with the help of smugglers. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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The International Rescue Committee says many children in refugee camps need access to education, places to play and mental healthcare services for trauma. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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Of the 62,000 refugees and migrants in Greece, more than half are women and children, according to the IRC. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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About 2,500 refugee children were attending Greek schools as of March. The rest have no access to formal education. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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Far-right protesters recently demonstrated outside several schools, protesting that refugee children are allowed to study in them. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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A man performs evening prayers at a makeshift mosque inside the Elliniko camp. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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A group of boys plays rock-paper-scissors to pass the time in the camp. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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Many refugees and migrants have grown frustrated with the slow asylum application process in Greece. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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Mohamed Asif Ostadazimi, a 38-year-old artist who left Afghanistan's Herat and came to Greece, lives in a tent with his wife and three small children. Although government agencies, aid groups and UN employees come to the camp regularly, he says, "nobody comes to help". [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]
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Camp residents play football as the sun goes down on a warm evening in April. [Patrick Strickland/Al Jazeera]