Since the beginning of the refugee crisis in Europe, refugee women on Greek islands are in constant fear, according to Amnesty International.
Shirin, an Afghan journalist, was once shot at by the Taliban. After fleeing near-fatal attacks in her country in the hope of finding safety in Europe, she now lives in constant fear in a transit refugee camp in Greece. She is, in fact, just one of many women who have fled harm and persecution, only to face new fears of sexual harassment and violence in the camps on the Greek islands.
“We are treated like animals. I’d rather be shot again than endure these conditions,” Shirin, not her real name, told Amnesty International at the Kara Tepe camp on the island of Lesvos.
It was 18 months ago that the Taliban shot at Shirin’s car. Initially, she fled to Kabul, where she found another journalism job, this time behind the camera. “It’s very dangerous for a woman journalist in Afghanistan,” she said. She continued to receive threats over the phone, and eventually it became too much. She left Afghanistan for Europe.
“But I don’t feel safe here either. I’m so scared, I never leave my room at night,” she said, adding that many of her friends and fellow travelers had described incidents of verbal and sexual harassment in Lesvos. Her “room” is a container in which dozens of women sleep, often on hard floors.
Despite the difficult conditions, Kara Tepe is considered the “good” camp on Lesvos. Refugees are allowed to come and go as they choose, and it has gender-segregated toilets and showers with doors – simple measures that increase the security of female refugees and help prevent sexual violence.
Conditions are markedly worse in the Moria camp, also on Lesvos, a former Greek military compound with a maximum capacity of 400 people. Moria currently houses over 3,000 people in extremely cramped conditions.
Jumana, a psychologist working for Humanity Crew, an NGO supporting refugees in Lesvos, told Amnesty International about the particular dangers that women refugees face in the camp. “Women staying in refugee camps are under a lot of pressure and continue to raise their fear of not feeling safe due to the mixed populations in the camps and the mixing, in some cases, of men and women even inside the tents, and lack of proper lighting at night,” she explained.
A 23-year-old woman who was traveling alone told Jumana how she awoke one night in Moria, terrified to discover that an unknown man had entered her tent. Such stories have become common over the past several months.
This year, more than a fifth of refugees and asylum seekers arriving in Greece are female and well over a third are children, according to the latest U.N. reports. None of them can leave until they are given appointments by the asylum application services in Athens, a process that can be painfully long due to insufficient staff and a backlog of applications.
While the camps on the Greek islands were initially set up as refugee processing facilities, they were turned into prison-like detention centers without freedom of movement following theE.U.-Turkey deal. While the authorities recently relaxed restrictions on the movement of people, thousands are crammed together in tents and containers. Basics such as food, including baby milk, are often scarce, and shower and toilet facilities extremely unhygienic.
The E.U.’s “refugee-swap” deal with Turkey meant refugees who arrived in Greece after March 20 risked being sent back to Turkey without proper assessment of their asylum claims in adherence with international refugee conventions. Amnesty International strongly opposes the deal as Turkey does not offer refugees full rights and protections.
Click here to read the full story.
Since the beginning of the refugee crisis in Europe, refugee women on Greek islands are in constant fear, according to Amnesty International.
Shirin, an Afghan journalist, was once shot at by the Taliban. After fleeing near-fatal attacks in her country in the hope of finding safety in Europe, she now lives in constant fear in a transit refugee camp in Greece. She is, in fact, just one of many women who have fled harm and persecution, only to face new fears of sexual harassment and violence in the camps on the Greek islands.
“We are treated like animals. I’d rather be shot again than endure these conditions,” Shirin, not her real name, told Amnesty International at the Kara Tepe camp on the island of Lesvos.
It was 18 months ago that the Taliban shot at Shirin’s car. Initially, she fled to Kabul, where she found another journalism job, this time behind the camera. “It’s very dangerous for a woman journalist in Afghanistan,” she said. She continued to receive threats over the phone, and eventually it became too much. She left Afghanistan for Europe.
“But I don’t feel safe here either. I’m so scared, I never leave my room at night,” she said, adding that many of her friends and fellow travelers had described incidents of verbal and sexual harassment in Lesvos. Her “room” is a container in which dozens of women sleep, often on hard floors.
Despite the difficult conditions, Kara Tepe is considered the “good” camp on Lesvos. Refugees are allowed to come and go as they choose, and it has gender-segregated toilets and showers with doors – simple measures that increase the security of female refugees and help prevent sexual violence.
Conditions are markedly worse in the Moria camp, also on Lesvos, a former Greek military compound with a maximum capacity of 400 people. Moria currently houses over 3,000 people in extremely cramped conditions.
Jumana, a psychologist working for Humanity Crew, an NGO supporting refugees in Lesvos, told Amnesty International about the particular dangers that women refugees face in the camp. “Women staying in refugee camps are under a lot of pressure and continue to raise their fear of not feeling safe due to the mixed populations in the camps and the mixing, in some cases, of men and women even inside the tents, and lack of proper lighting at night,” she explained.
A 23-year-old woman who was traveling alone told Jumana how she awoke one night in Moria, terrified to discover that an unknown man had entered her tent. Such stories have become common over the past several months.
This year, more than a fifth of refugees and asylum seekers arriving in Greece are female and well over a third are children, according to the latest U.N. reports. None of them can leave until they are given appointments by the asylum application services in Athens, a process that can be painfully long due to insufficient staff and a backlog of applications.
While the camps on the Greek islands were initially set up as refugee processing facilities, they were turned into prison-like detention centers without freedom of movement following theE.U.-Turkey deal. While the authorities recently relaxed restrictions on the movement of people, thousands are crammed together in tents and containers. Basics such as food, including baby milk, are often scarce, and shower and toilet facilities extremely unhygienic.
The E.U.’s “refugee-swap” deal with Turkey meant refugees who arrived in Greece after March 20 risked being sent back to Turkey without proper assessment of their asylum claims in adherence with international refugee conventions. Amnesty International strongly opposes the deal as Turkey does not offer refugees full rights and protections.
Click here to read the full story.