New police patrols have been introduced along the Greece-Turkey border, as the number of refugees and migrants crossing into the country rises.
The volume of refugees and migrants crossing the Greece-Turkey border into Evros, Greece, reached some 2,900 in April, mainly from Syria and Iraq. This is equivalent to around half of all the estimated arrivals in 2017, marking a sharp increase in irregular migration in the region.
Unlike the migrant crisis which began in 2015, recent land arrivals have far outpaced those by sea, causing Greek authorities to hastily increase border security patrols at Evros. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), hundreds of people are currently being held in police detention facilities, awaiting processing by Greek authorities.
What are the conditions like for these migrants?
There is only one reception and identification centre for migrants at Fylakioi in Evros, which is currently under tremendous strain. UNHCR reports that the centre is filled beyond its 240-person capacity, including with 120 unaccompanied children, and that conditions are ‘dismal’.
For this reason, the centre has been unable to conduct timely registration and identification, provide medical and psychosocial care, or deliver language and interpretation services. Many of the migrants crossing the Greece-Turkey border are instead placed in police detention facilities, until appropriate places open up.
What needs to be done?
In response, Greece has sent some 120 extra police officers to the region, and has also called on the EU’s border security agency Frontex to intervene. However, UNHCR has proposed a number of additional measures to alleviate the pressures placed on the reception centre at Fylakio, including:
- Establishing mobile reception and identification units;
- Transferring unaccompanied children to safer and more suitable accommodation;
- Ensuring health care provision for those staying in police facilities is a priority;
- Identifying open transit sites where arrivals in Evros can be relocated; and
- Increasing the capacity of competent authorities in Greece to ensure timely registration of asylum applications.
Healthcare is an urgent priority, UNHCR said in a statement. The organisation found that at one facility, only one doctor and four nurses were available to care for more than 500 people. UNHCR will continue to support authorities in Greece to urgently remedy the situation.
