{"id":36997,"date":"2021-11-25T13:46:19","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T11:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arsis.gr\/?p=36302"},"modified":"2022-02-28T13:23:17","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T13:23:17","slug":"ngos-raise-alarm-at-growing-hunger-amongst-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-greece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arsis.gr\/en\/ngos-raise-alarm-at-growing-hunger-amongst-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-greece\/","title":{"rendered":"NGOs raise alarm at growing hunger amongst refugees and asylum seekers in Greece"},"content":{"rendered":"

NGOs raise alarm at growing hunger amongst refugees and asylum seekers in Greece_final signatories <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A halt to cash assistance for asylum seekers, and the denial of food support to recognised refugees and rejected asylum seekers is creating a hunger crisis in Greece, 27 NGOs and civil society organisations warned today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For nearly two months, up to 60 per cent of current residents of the Greek refugee camps on the\nmainland have not had access to sufficient food. Following the implementation in October 2021 of a\nlaw passed last year, the Greek Government stopped providing services to those whose asylum\napplications have been accepted. One in four residents in these facilities are women and two in five\nare children.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe women in Eleonas camp keep telling us that their children are crying at night with hunger. Mothers now don\u2019t have money for baby milk so they mush up biscuits in water instead,\u201d said Emily Wilson of Project Elea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One chronically ill father of three children from Afghanistan said: \u201cIf I don\u2019t eat it\u2019s fine but I can\u2019t leave my babies hungry\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, approximately 34,000 asylum seekers have gone for two months without cash assistance\nthat had previously enabled them to buy food, clothing and other essential items.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU-funded cash assistance programme was previously administered by UNHCR but was\ninterrupted after the Greek Government took over its management on 1 October 2021.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to calls by NGOs to urgently address the situation, the government made public\nassurances that distributions would resume by the end of October. One month later, the problem\nremains unresolved and its devastating impact on asylum seekers grows by the day.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha Roussou of the International Rescue Committee said: \u201cVulnerable and marginalised people are being pushed over the edge: children have to go to school hungry; sick people can\u2019t get a bus to attend to their medical needs, and families have no resources to prepare for a cold winter.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The halt to cash assistance is stripping asylum seekers\u2019 of their dignity and depriving them of the\nlifeline many depended upon. Refugees and asylum seekers, who were already economically\nmarginalised, are resorting to begging and other negative coping mechanisms to survive.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ana Liz Chiban of Fenix \u2013 Humanitarian Legal Aid said: \u201cAmong those affected are rejected asylum\nseekers who cannot access accommodation or healthcare and have no right to work. This includes\nmany Afghan and Syrian refugees whose applications were rejected on the basis that Turkey is a safe\ncountry, despite the fact Turkey is not accepting any returns from Greece.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some asylum seekers who live outside the camps as beneficiaries of the Emergency Support to\nIntegration and Accommodation (ESTIA) program are particularly vulnerable. They have also been\naffected by the interruption in cash provision but, unlike people in the camps, do not receive prepared\nfood distributions. Without even this alternative, they have been left completely dependent on local\nsocial services and organisations to receive food, where those are available.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anita Bay, Director of Save the Children Europe, said: \u201cThrough both, its actions and inaction, the Government of Greece is creating a hunger crisis amongst refugees and asylum seekers in the country. It is unlawful, unnecessary, and totally unacceptable for this to be happening in the EU.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NGOs are calling for urgent action to address the growing crisis, including for the Government of\nGreece to:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Make the resumption of cash distributions a political priority;
\n– Provide emergency assistance such as basic goods or vouchers to use in shops or for\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

transport, to asylum seekers who were previously receiving cash assistance,
\n– Ensure cash assistance instalments that were not delivered to asylum seekers in the past months\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

are delivered when the new system is put in place;
\n– Distribute adequate and nutritious food to all people residing in camps, regardless of whether\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

they are recognised refugees, asylum seekers or have had their claims rejected.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n