The hotspot policy, launched in 2016, has devastating effects on mental health of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
picture © Martina Martelloni
March 18 will mark the fifth anniversary of the agreement between the EU and Turkey to stop the flow of asylum seekers from Turkey to Europe. On March 18th , 2016 a containment policy began, intended to control the crossing of asylum seekers from Turkey to the Aegean islands. The Reception and Identification Centers (RICs) on the Aegean islands became detention centers, where thousands of asylum seekers are crammed, waiting – even for years – to receive their decisions, with devastating effects on their mental health.
“I would have preferred to die in my country, under the bombs, instead of dying in this camp every day”. This is just one of the hard sentences that INTERSOS psychologists have heard in Lesbos in recent months, during the psychological support sessions aimed at women living in the temporary camp of Mavrovouni. These women have been stranded in Lesvos for months, even years. They feel trapped, hopeless, ashamed. Suicidal thoughts and self-destructive behaviors are exacerbated by the hard living conditions in the Mavrovouni RIC on Lesvos, where they endure a strong sense of insecurity, anxiety and oppression. Death is perceived as relief: dying will allow them to get out of their confinement.
The stories of Zahra, Farida and Mariam
The camp is a prison, where the lockdown measures due to COVID-19 furtherly curb the already very limited space of existence of these women. They spend most of their time confined in the tent, waiting for staff of the camp to pass by, and notify them about their asylum application. According to the procedure in place, everyone has a different case number and a different asylum procedure – even the members of the same family.
Zahra, 68, had to renounce already 3 times to be transferred to an apartment in Athens. She cannot leave her son, Mohammed, who has been seriously injured in Moria, and now cannot walk. Out of all INTERSOS patients, 70% have experienced Gender Based Violence incidents at least once in their life. For women who endured a traumatic experience, the life in the camp equals to feel constantly at risk. In the camp, a basic level of security cannot be ensured, and offenders and perpetrators can easily have access to their lodgings. Their mental health conditions are marked by the constant anxiety and fear that such incidents could happen again.
Farida, 22, has been raped in Moria, in front of her two children. It was not the first time that a man abused her. For this reason she had ran away from her country, in Europe she was looking for safety. Now, she applied to return back to Afghanistan. Many married women experience domestic violence by their husbands on a daily basis. They justify the abusive behavior with the misery of their life. The violence is often reported by women who struggle to find a balance in their personal life and who replicate the violent models on their children, putting them at risk of abuse and neglect.
Mariam was saved by her brother, Masoud, who stopped their stepfather in the attempt of abusing her. This episode has forever marked their life. They ran away from Afghanistan, together, reaching Lesvos years after. Now, Masoud presents symptoms of psychosis. He is waiting for the last 6 months to receive his decision. Mariam is one of our patients. She has already refused twice to be transferred to the mainland. She presents symptoms of PTSD, and she would highly benefit from a psychological therapy. On the second appointment, she informed her psychologist that she did not wish anymore to continue her therapy. “If my brother cannot be helped, I do not want to be helped too“.
INTERSOS has been present on Lesbos island since September 2020, when an emergency team was deployed after the Moria’s camp fire to assess the most urgent needs of the affected population. As an urgent need for Mental Health support to vulnerable women was identified, early in 2021 INTERSOS began a MHPSS intervention aimed to provide comprehensive psychosocial care to the vulnerable women and to enhance the general mental health response. Since February 2021, INTERSOS psychologists and case managers have performed 122 individual sessions, providing mental health support to 31 women. The most frequent mental health conditions among our patients are depressive disorder, PTSD, anxiety disorder and adjustment disorder, often accompanied by suicidal thoughts, ideations or attempts in the past.
Europe cannot be just another stage on the painful migratory path
These are the victims of European migration policies, containment policies based on the hotspot approach, which over the years have done nothing but trap people in endless waiting, depriving them of basic human dignity and forcing them to relive the same traumas and create new ones. 8.596 people are currently stranded on the island of Lesbos.
This year the agreement between the EU and Turkey, the highest expression of these failed policies, turns 5 years old. The story of every single asylum seeker present on Lesbos island is a direct testimony of the human cost of European choices on immigration but, despite this, Europe shows no signs of changing direction: the new European pact on immigration and asylum, in fact, does nothing but give continuity to the containment policies implemented so far, reinforcing a border police approach rather than safeguarding the rights of migrants.
“The EU- Turkey Statement, is an inhumane agreement, which has brought pain, death and suffering to thousands of human lives trapped here in Greece – says Dr. Apostolos Veizis, executive Director of INTERSOS Hellas – Today, 5 years later, we deal with the huge extent of the humanitarian crisis created by EU policies in the Greek islands. The implementation of this agreement has to do precisely with the persistence of European governments in preventive measures instead of finding viable and feasible humanitarian solutions. All these policies do is increase people’s misery and push them into more dangerous paths. The EU-Turkey agreement continues to be a huge step in the wrong direction, as it formalizes a system that threatens the right to asylum, completely disregarding humanitarian and protection needs. It never worked and it will never work. This is a policy that has only brought pain, sadness and misery to the afflicted people, perpetuating an unbearable situation that can be managed in a different way“.
We reiterate the need for Europe to commit itself to pursuing new migration policies, focused on the protection and integration of people, ensuring the application by the Member States of the legislation in force on family reunification. Europe cannot be just another stage in the painful migration path and has the duty to guarantee everyone respect for the fundamental human rights that are the basis of its existence.
INTERSOS have been working in Greece providing assistance to people on the move and stranded since 2016. Today INTERSOS is working in Epirus ,Thessaly and on Lesbos island.