Winter has arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos, where seasonal winds and rain exacerbate the already deplorable living conditions of the approximately 7,300 migrants at the Mavrovouni camp.
Mavrovouni was constructed as an emergency camp by the Greek government in collaboration with the European Commission, for the 12,000 migrants, mostly women and children, following a massive fire in the Moria camp. Transfers and relocations proceeded slowly, and the majority of migrants are still in the temporary camps facing worsening conditions: no hot water in the cold of winter, and risks of flooding even from the lightest rains.
Over 7,000 individuals seek asylum and have lived in the camp for months. At least 2,000 are particularly vulnerable, with disabilities or victims of sexual violence and torture. These individuals most in need of protection and assistance remain unable to leave the island and in a completely inadequate shelter.
This is the hotspot policy that the European Union has been pursuing since 2016 and that has done nothing but produce overcrowded camps, without the most basic sanitation conditions and consideration for human dignity.
For almost 5 years we have witnessed the systematic violation of the human rights of the victims of these policies. The time has come for Europe to unequivocally recognise the failure of the Hotspot system.
In the coming days when the European Parliament and the European Council will review the new EU Pact on Immigration, we renew the appeal to the European institutions to distance themselves from the policies pursued to date regarding immigration, and abandon, once and for all, the model of overcrowded camps at the borders. It is time to put an end to the criminally negligent lack of dignified structures to house and welcome migrants to Europe, and finally practice migration policies to welcome, protect, and include migrants.