Press Release 22/12/2020— Severe Mental Health Consequences after Forced Moves and Evictions in Katsikas’ Refugee Camp
By: Soup
Tags: Refugees, Migration, Greece, Mental Health, Asylum Seekers

Riot police enter Katsikas camp on the morning of 14 December 2020

On Monday, 14 December 2020, several residents of the refugee camp of Katsikas were subjected to forceful evictions, some from their containers (into a different container) and others from the camp entirely. According to eye-witnesses, the police enacting said evictions used aggressive measures including teargas and sound bombs; the resistance of individual camp residents culminated in the arrest of at least four persons. This report is based on the statements of camp residents who witnessed the events of Monday, 14 December, and Tuesday, 15 December.

On the morning of 14 December, riot police surrounded the refugee camp of Katsikas. Eye-witnesses confirmed that the riot police had been present from approximately 6 AM without clear reason, as there had been no incident which would have required their presence.

Around 10 AM, the police began moving through the camp, informing specific families and individuals of the fact that they had to move to other containers. Some others were told that additional people would be moved in with them and yet again others were informed that they had to leave the camp altogether. According to several residents, 8 families/individuals were evicted from the camp that day. In cases in which residents were not found in their containers, the police forced entry, dragged personal items outside and changed the locks.

Resistance by individual residents of the camp was met with the use of teargas, violence (including batons) and sound bombs from the side of the police. At least four people were arrested. One of them was a family father of four children who refused to have an additional 3 people move into the container in which the family of 6 lives. A man who states to hold a medical note attesting to his severe mental health condition was arrested because he refused to move into a container with 7 others. After having been arrested and released, having lost the only shelter he had and not receiving any information from the camp management on the following day either, he stabbed himself, causing injuries that required his immediate hospitalisation. He is one of two persons who had to be hospitalised due to self-harm after the police intervention on Monday. These reactions are illustrative of the emotional and mental toll this situation has — it can be regarded as a consequence of the fatigue brought on by this indefinite situation, of the police intervention as well as of the despair and anxiety created by the question of where to go in the middle of winter, in the middle of a nationwide lockdown and a global pandemic without understanding the local language and without sufficient financial resources

Two persons had to be hospitalised with severe injuries due to self-harm as a consequence of the forced moves and evictions. These reactions are illustrative of the emotional and mental toll this situation has.

Several current residents of the camp are facing pressure to leave the accommodation structure by the end of 2020, including more than 40 families. Those being asked to leave have been pointed to the HELIOS program, which is supposedly assisting people in finding their own accommodation. But there have definitely not been enough efforts made on integrating people and on orienting them on how to navigate within the Greek system and society.

At the same time as people are being forced to share the limited space in a container with even more people or being moved out of the camp altogether, other asylum seekers are being moved into the camp. Several residents stated they heard about 150 new people who were going to be transferred into the camp. A first group of new residents arrived already the next day — 15 December. For the time being, before spaces are made available in the containers, the new arrivals are being put up in a large tent, which is exposed to steadily dropping temperatures and heavy rains.

Background: What led to this incident?

A substantial proportion of asylum seekers and refugees in Greece is forced to live in isolated refugee camps in often dire conditions. In Katsikas camp, as in many other camps, the residents stay in containers which they share, sometimes with up to 8 other persons — these being family members or complete strangers. This solution for accommodation is, as such, highly questionable in a country in which empty buildings are available in abundance, let alone on a continent that can be considered one of the most powerful and wealthy regions in the world today.

Within the current asylum system, people usually have to wait for one or two years in these conditions before a decision about their asylum claim is made. Once they receive a positive decision, they are given a grace period of only four weeks to leave their spaces in the containers and find their own accommodation (more about the change of the grace period from 6 months to four weeks ). In practice, this confronts people with the impossible task of having to act like integrated members of the host society, while in reality no integration pathways have been made available to them. The language barrier and the financial situation are obstacles that most cannot easily overcome; these barriers are exacerbated in the current situation of being in a nationwide lockdown brought on in response to a global pandemic. The authorities had put previous processes around the evictions on hold due to the ongoing pandemic. Now however, new people are being brought to the camp of Katsikas and current residents are being evicted, even though the conditions that brought this process to a halt remain unchanged: The pandemic continues unabated and the national lockdown was recently extended into 2021. Meanwhile, temperatures are steadily dropping and will reach their lowest point in January-February. It is difficult to find the logic behind revamping the evictions under the present conditions. While space is needed for new arrivals to the camp who lack adequate accommodation, the solution cannot be to force people into overcrowded containers or to leave others homeless. Instead of forcing people into tents or onto the streets, the authorities — and all of us — need to question the approach of hosting tens of thousands of people in these isolated ghettos and unacceptable conditions in the first place.

We urge the European government to support Greece in providing dignified, sustainable solutions instead of using Greece as a barrier that shields them from the need to assume responsibility.

We urge the Greek authorities to stop evicting people from the only accommodation available to them under the current situation. We urge the Greek authorities to make accommodations available to asylum seekers that are not overcrowded, that are a risk for their mental health and that remove dignity from their lives. We urge the European governments to support Greece in providing dignified, sustainable solutions for people who come to Europe in search of freedom and safety, instead of using Greece as a barrier that shields them from the need to assume responsibility.

Written by Mimi Hapig