MSF pulls out of Lesbos hot spot as aid groups slam migrant deal

ATHENS, Greece – International aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Wednesday, March 23 it had suspended activities at a refugee center on the Greek island of Lesbos to avoid being complicit in an “unfair and inhumane” EU deal to send newcomers back to Turkey.

The move came a day after the UN refugee agency UNHCR said it had suspended some activities in Greece, saying reception centers had become “detention facilities”.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), operating in Lesbos, and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) swiftly joined MSF and the UNHCR in voicing concerns and scaling back activities.

‘Unfair, inhumane’

“We took the extremely difficult decision to end our activities in Moria (on Lesbos) because continuing to work inside would make us complicit in a system we consider to be both unfair and inhumane,” said Marie Elisabeth Ingres, MSF’s head mission in Greece.

The NGOs spoke out after a deal struck last week between EU states and Turkey to force migrants and asylum seekers to return from Greek islands to Turkey.

“We will not allow our assistance to be instrumentalized for a mass expulsion operation and we refuse to be part of a system that has no regard for the humanitarian or protection needs of asylum seekers and migrants,” said Ingres.

She said MSF had closed “all activities” linked to its operation at the Moria camp on Lesbos, including transportation of refugees to sanitation and medical facilities.

MSF said it would continue to run its transit center in Mantamados some 30 kilometers (20 miles) further north, where new arrivals receive first assistance, as well as sea rescue activities.

“MSF will also continue to run mobile clinics on the island of Lesbos for those outside of the hot spot location,” the group said.

The EU and Ankara struck a deal last Friday, March 18 aiming to cut off the perilous sea crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands which some 850,000 people used last year as a route to flee the war in Syria.

The agreement went into effect Sunday, March 20.

‘We cannot work safely’

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said Tuesday, March 22 it would not be party to the deal nor be involved in returns or detention, noting Greece “does not have sufficient capacity on the islands for assessing asylum claims, nor the proper conditions to accommodate people decently and safely pending an examination of their cases.”

Separately the Norwegian Refugee Council said it was suspending “a number of activities” at the Vial center on the island of Chios.

“We cannot work independently and safely in a police-run detention facility. Now that it is a detention center we no longer have adequate access to provide assistance to vulnerable refugees,” said NRC head of operations in Greece, Alain Homsy.

Greek authorities last Saturday, March 19 began accelerating the transfer to the mainland of some 8,000 refugees and migrants who had arrived on the islands before the March 20 cut-off and who now can hope to be resettled across Europe. Newcomers arriving since Sunday are instead now subject to return to Turkey.

Despite the NGOs’ concerns, Greek deputy interior minister, Nikos Toskas insisted Wednesday that “we think we can control the situation” as the European Commission and Greece look to mobilize some 4,000 security personnel.

Meanwhile hundreds of protesting migrants blocked a road in northern Greece which leads to the Macedonia border for several hours on Wednesday.

The protesters, who were met by anti-riot officers, were calling for the reopening of the Balkans route through to northern Europe, a police source said. – Rappler.com