|
👍
Tue 15 Dec 2015, 09:03 (last edited on Thu 17 Dec 2015, 10:04)
Refugees from everywhere but Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are blocked from leaving Greece. They are piling up in Athens in their thousands with no certain future. Amy Bird was busy after midnight... "Eidomeni is operating as a transit camp as it was intended. About 3000 a day crossing the border.
I'm in contact with people who were removed from Eidomeni last Wednesday and taken to Athens. They are truly forgotten.
There is no secure accommodation, big queues for food, people are getting ill after 4 weeks of living rough.
The stadium where a lot of the people were taken is due to be cleared on Wednesday, there's no concrete news on where people will go.
The lack of information is huge. There are volunteers trying their best to support the Refugees who are now stranded in Athens.
I don't know how long refugees will stay in Athens waiting to be taken to detention centres and deported.
I hear that some have headed back to the islands as conditions are so poor in Athens!
There must be plenty of people are putting themselves in great danger, paying smugglers to try to get them out of Greece. Many are robbed and left in the middle of nowhere.
I plan to go to Athens as soon as I have sorted out some transport so I can have a mobile information point with phone charging and transport for warm clothes and food.
Ongoing support is going to be needed in Greece throughout the winter and beyond.
Let's not forget them."
If you want a picture of what is going on across Europe, this sheds some light on the numbers. Arrivals on the Greek islands are still very high. The value of people smuggling to the Turkish economy far outstrips what the EU is paying Turkey to prevent it. This was posted yesterday evening:
.
#Greece.Unchanged situation at #Taekwondo stadium near Athens, where up to 2,000 people are staying after they weren't alowed to cross Macedonian border due to their nationality. The stadium was due to be cleared out by 17th of December, but officials are not relocating the refugees yet. Most of them know about the deadline and they are very worried about their future, but noone seems to have any concrete info at the moment.
Refugee Housing Squat in #Notara26, Athens is urgently asking for food as they have nothing to cook anymore. You can contact them at notara26@riseup.net
By noon today, 16 boats have arrived to #Chios island, more of them coming in the afternoon. Chios coastal intervention teams are full, but they are asking for volunteers in the refugee camp and in warehouses. For several hours today, there was noone to distribute warm clothes to the refugees in Chois camp due to lack of volunteers.
By 5PM today, more than 1,000 refugees have arrived to #Lesvos island. Kara Tepe refugee center is asking for donations of thermal blankets, mens shoes (sizes 40-45) and warm socks. As they are planning to organize a big barbecue party for Christmas in #KaraTepe, they are also asking for toys and other gifts for children. You can send your donations to the following address: VCA International: The Volunteer Coordination Agency (for Fred Morlet), Kara Tepe, 81100 Mytilini ��" Lesvos, Greece. In #Moira camp, The Wild Lemon Team, Better Days for Moria and The Breakfast Club are all asking for volunteers at the moment. No Border Kitchen on Tsamakia beach is asking for volunteers to cook and serve food for arriving refugees. Their contact is noborderkitchen@riseup.net
.
#Macedonia. Yesterday, 2621 people have entered the country. Today, 1,145 refugees have entered #Gevgelija and continued their trip to #Tabanovce transit camp by 14.45PM. As temperatures are very low and both camps don't have enough heating, the refugees are still freezing while waiting to continue their trip. Some heating devices were brought to #Gevgelija last night, but there are still not enough heaters to keep everyone warm. As only Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi refugees are alowed to enter the country, many are still trying to travel to Macedonia illegaly. We must repeat our warning: every day we are hearing new stories about people who were beaten and robbed by their traffickers. Most smugglers will not bring refugees to a promised destination. They will just abuse them and leave them on the road. If you can, please warn people about this danger.
.
#Serbia: Volunteers from #Preševo and #Miratovac are reporting cold, but calm day with less arrivals. Last night, two big groups of refugees from Afghanistan and Iraq arrived after midnight, with five women and nine kids including two very small babies have arrived to #Dimitrovgrad, where refugees usually come in a very bad condition. They were forwarded by buses to #Belgrade. Volunteers are still not alowed in Dimitrovgrad camp, but IHO team and independent volunteers managed to distribute 60 food packets, water, baby food, clothes and shoes to the refugees. As temperatures have dropped heavily, everyone is asking for more winter clothes, shoes and socks.
.
#Croatia: By 4PM today, 2,052 people have entered #SlavonskiBrod camp and continued their trip to Slovenia. As local authorities are prioritizing fast transit, refugees don't have time to rest before continuing their trip. Volunteers are doing their best to give them basic necessities before they leave. Donations of both warm clothes and shoes are needed. Volunteers that want to work in the camp for more than one day need to be announced five days in advance due to the new accreditation process, so please take that in consideration when planing your trip to Slavonski Brod. Volunteers coming for one day only can be announced a day in advance, and they will work with a visitor pass.
.
#Slovenia: By noon today, 2,097 refugees have entered the country, with 1,182 staying in #DobovaLivarna (pictured here) where our volunteers have witnessed a hard night. Many families with very small children have arrived to Dobova during the night, and there were not enough baby bottles, diapers, wet wipes or other necessities for so many crying babies. Also, hygienic conditions in the camp are getting very bad ans the tents are not cleaned regularly, not to mention the toilettes which are disgraceful. Our volunteers have tried to clean up as much as they could, but there were not enough trash bags in the camp. Second AYS shift reported better conditions during the day."
| 