{"id":23508,"date":"2020-03-27T14:21:09","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T12:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arsis.gr\/?p=23508"},"modified":"2020-03-27T14:21:09","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T12:21:09","slug":"greece-move-asylum-seekers-migrants-to-safety-immediate-hotspot-decongestion-needed-to-address-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arsis.gr\/en\/greece-move-asylum-seekers-migrants-to-safety-immediate-hotspot-decongestion-needed-to-address-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Greece: Move Asylum Seekers, Migrants to Safety Immediate Hotspot Decongestion Needed to Address COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Refugees and migrants move away from the camp of Moria in the island of Lesbos after a fire broke out, on March 16, 2020. (Photo by Manolis Lagoutaris \/ AFP) (Photo by MANOLIS LAGOUTARIS\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(Athens, March 24, 2020) \u2013 Greece\u2019s\ngovernment should immediately reduce congestion in the islands\u2019 Reception and\nIdentification Centers (RICs) for asylum seekers and migrants to avert a public\nhealth crisis amid the coronavirus pandemic, 21 human rights and humanitarian\norganizations said today.
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\nThousands of people, including older people, those with\nchronic diseases, children \u2013 including very young and unaccompanied children \u2013,\npregnant women, new mothers, and people with disabilities, are trapped in\ndangerously overcrowded, deplorable conditions on the islands amid the COVID-19\npandemic. Forcing asylum seekers to remain in conditions that violate their\nrights and are harmful to their well-being, health, and dignity cannot be\njustified on grounds of public health, the organizations said.
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\nInternational human rights law requires that the health needs of asylum seekers and migrants be addressed\nand, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, any restrictions on rights\nfor reasons of public health or national emergency be lawful, necessary, and\nproportionate<\/a> as well as nondiscriminatory<\/a>.
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\nOn March 17, 2020, Greece\u2019s government announced\nmeasures <\/a>to prevent a coronavirus outbreak in RICs on the islands, the\nso-called \u201chotspots,\u201d that essentially put the camps on lockdown, trapping\nthousands of asylum seekers and migrants. The measures include suspending\nall special activities and facilities in the camps, including non-formal schools, while no\nvisitors, including members of aid organizations and agencies providing\nessential services, will be allowed into the RICs for at least two weeks, the\nMigration and Asylum Ministry said. Camp residents will be prevented through\nstrict controls from venturing outside the facilities, even to get supplies,\nbut also from circulating within them without good reason.
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\nOn March 22, Greece\u2019s prime minister announced\na nationwide lockdown<\/a> banning \u201call unnecessary movement by citizens.\u201d
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\nAs of March 22, the population\nof the hotspots<\/a> on Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos, and Leros was almost 31,400\nover capacity, with 37,427 people in facilities with a total capacity of just\n6,095. Conditions in the centers cannot be characterized as suitable for\ndignified, humane living, the groups said. Extremely limited access to running\nwater, toilets, and showers, as well as hours-long lines for food distribution\nand insufficient medical and nursing personnel, make it impossible to abide by\nthe guidelines for protection from the coronavirus, putting people at\nsignificantly heightened risk in the face of the growing threat of widespread COVID-19\ntransmission.
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\nGreece\u2019s government should adopt measures to prevent an outbreak and prepare a\nresponse plan to be enacted immediately once the first case of COVID-19 in a reception\ncenter is detected. In the event of an outbreak, a quarantine that would trap tens\nof thousands of healthy people together with people infected by COVID-19 in the\novercrowded camps, accompanied by a lack of adequate and appropriate medical\npreparedness and response, would almost certainly lead to preventable deaths of\nnumerous people, the organizations said.
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\nGreece\u2019s government should take the measures outlined below, which will reduce\nthe risk of COVID-19 infections among the population living in these centers\nand generally help protect public health:<\/p>\n\n\n\n