Unacceptable sanitary conditions in hopelessly overcrowded collective housing, police violence and sexual assault on women and children – the Council of Europe has again expressed its alarm about the situation of thousands of refugees in Greece. The situation of the more than 3,000 unaccompanied minors was particularly worrying, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, said in a report. Most of them are housed in containers or tents with adults – without any care.
Enormous overcrowding
The Commissioner’s report is based on a five-day inspection visit she made in June with two staff members. At this time, according to official information, around 65,000 refugees stayed in Greece.
The Islands‘ co-funded reception centers housed approximately 11,500 refugees at the time of the visit, including pregnant women and mothers with infants. The official reception capacity of the centers was only 6,400 people. Women and children who used the sanitary facilities unaccompanied were exposed to sexual assault.
