No entry: Far right rules Greece with a closed fist in the face of refugees

Menna Abdel Razek

Following the rise of the far right with the victory of the New Democracy party led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in July 2019, the Greek parliament began to draw up a plan to combat immigration policies in light of the grim conditions and highly guarded camps that Erdogan gave the Syrians so as to open up the Turkish-Greek border, which points to the fate of the new Syrian refugees.

Against immigration

The right-wing party states on its official website that it seeks to protect Greece’s borders, while those who do not have the right to asylum will be returned immediately to their countries of origin, although those who remain in the country will live in humanitarian and dignified conditions.

The party plans to protect the borders by using the latest technical means and intensifying land and sea patrols in cooperation with the European Union, using modern devices to prevent smuggling and illegal immigration, and excluding families with children as well as other vulnerable social groups with a commitment to stay in their homes. It also seeks to establish temporary reception centers for hospitality in a maximum period of six weeks, check legal documents, and establish immersion classes for children recognized as refugees only.

Stifling crises

Erdogan threw more than 13,000 migrants in boats on the borders of Greece, which has been suffering from stifling economic crises since 2008, making it reduce services provided to new refugees.

In July 2019, Greece denied refugees without identity papers access to health care, which prevented 55,000 refugees from accessing medical care, according to Doctors Without Borders. The organization noted that the new immigration policies Turkey signed with the European Union in March 2016 prohibited many children from having access to medical care, especially those suffering from chronic and serious diseases. These policies therefore generate suffering and endanger the lives of refugees.

This situation made some refugees resort to clinics of private organizations, such as solidarity, praxis and open clinics, but these suffer from a lack of basic supplies due to insufficient funding.

Amnesty International’s 2017-2018 report on Greece stated that about 47,000 refugees are stranded in Greece as a result of the closure of migration routes in the Balkans. Although Greece is one of the main outlets for migration to Europe, new EU policies have reduced the number of arrivals across Turkey from 173,450 people in 2016 to just 29,716 people in 2017.

Greece is trying to evacuate the capital Athens and gather new refugees in heavily guarded camps on islands in the Aegean Sea, such as the Moria camp on Lesbos Island, which is designed to accommodate 2,840 people but now has about 20,000 refugees as a result of the influx. The refugees there suffer from difficult conditions, poor services, and no health care.