A/HRC/35/25/Add.2
families with small children, are mostly housed in tents and communal barracks, leaving
them exposed to all weather conditions.
58.
The Special Rapporteur notes the lack of a system to detect vulnerabilities. He was
informed that segregated sections were provided to host families with children, single
women and women with children. However, in practice, he saw families, single females,
elderly people and unaccompanied minor children living in common areas, leading to an
increased feeling of insecurity, with migrants complaining about the lack of privacy and
security. An accurate and effective individual assessment mechanism would prevent
vulnerable groups, such as children, especially if unaccompanied, from being detained in
such conditions.
59.
On Lesvos, provisions are put in place for vulnerable migrants to be transferred to
the open camp of Kara Tepe or to the Greek mainland. However, due to slow and
inefficient screening procedures, and with limited capacity to host all of the population in
need, many migrants who belong to a vulnerable group remain in Moria. The Special
Rapporteur was informed that only cases that seem to be able to prove their vulnerability
through a health professional’s screening assessment are identified as vulnerable by the
Reception and Identification Service.
B.
Reception conditions on the mainland
60.
Following the border closure in February 2016, the urgent need for housing led to
the establishment of additional accommodation centres; in parallel, several informal
settlements developed in public squares. When the European Union-Turkey statement took
effect, around 9,000 persons were stuck in the Greek capital and its surroundings. In the
Olympic stadiums in Elliniko — visited by the Special Rapporteur — more than 4,000
people, most of them families with children, were sleeping in tents on the concrete floor,
most of them in the former airport terminal waiting areas.
61.
At the same time, more than 10,000 migrants, including families with children, lived
in the informal camp settlement in Idomeni, at the border with the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, in small tents in open and dismal conditions. Among the
inhabitants were many vulnerable migrants, such as unaccompanied minors, persons with
physical and psychosocial disabilities and elderly migrants, without adequate protection.
Frustrations and insecurity over the future led to conflict and violence between individuals
and the neglect of children. Money, or services such as access to Skype, were often earned
through sexual favours.
62.
The Special Rapporteur commends the Greek authorities for swiftly responding to
the immediate need for shelter. The Hellenic Army opened and equipped around 30 camps
by the time of the visit and 15 more were planned. The Greek authorities have tried to
persuade thousands of refugees and migrants to move to the army-built camps around the
country, sometimes with the ultimatum of moving voluntarily within two weeks or being
removed by force. The Special Rapporteur received information that the main criteria for
migrants to move would include proximity to a city or town, Wi-Fi, registration
possibilities for the asylum procedure, access to the camp being granted to civil society
organizations (and not only to the Hellenic Army), activities and education for children, and
social support and health care for adults and children. Creating trust between migrants,
government officials and other actors is of the utmost importance. “Warehousing” migrants
will not respond to their needs.
C.
Overall concerns on reception and accommodation facilities
63.
Serious overcrowding in reception and identification centres and official and
unofficial camps on the mainland, substandard living conditions, and a lack of adequate
food, health care and information have led to anxiety, depression, confusion and frustration
among the migrant population both on the mainland and on the islands. Hunger strikes,
violent confrontations and threats of self-immolation occur across the country. The Special
Rapporteur observed an overwhelming insecurity, due to a lack of proper policing within
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