The Greek delegation of Physicians without Borders (MSF) claims to have detected six cases of malnutrition in children living in a migrant host center, Island of Greece in the east of the Aegean Sea, being the first time that doctors made a diagnosis of this type since the opening of the facilities in 2021.
MSF has diagnosed children, 6 months and 6, with moderate to severe malnutrition and emphasized that children need immediate medical intervention.
“Children constitute about 25% of the population (from the countryside), but pediatric care is still insufficient, not only in the center, but throughout the island of Samos,” said the general director of MSF in Greece, Christina Psarra, in a press release.
The six children, from Afghanistan and Syria, arrived in the field with their families in the last two or three months and it was not possible to determine if they already suffered malnutrition before entering the space for asylum seekers, Psarra said.
However, “definitely the conditions in the field have hindered things and had an aggravating effect,” Psarra said.
When asked about MSF’s accusations, the Ministry of Migration and Asylum of Greece said he would give an answer on Monday.
Psarra said that although the meals were supplied to the residents of the field, the diet “is not nutritious for children of this age.”
The situation was aggravated by El Corte, nine months ago, from a scholarship granted to asylum seekers in Greece, which allowed them to buy fresh food and other products to the first necessity, he said.
Officially designated as a “closed controlled access center”, the European Union migrant field in Samos, built on a slope about eight kilometers from the main port of Vathy, opened in 2021 to replace a mass superpoblado field that was developed on the outskirts of the city.
The field, which is observed by police and private security, has a capacity of 3664 people and on Monday, housed 3176 people, according to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum of Greece.
Psarra said the children had already supported difficult trips to reach Samos and that the conditions in the field aggravated their medical situation.
Human Rights Defense Groups reported terrible conditions in the Samos field, including poor sanitary conditions and the lack of current water.
“These are children who have gone through painful trips. They had difficulty coming,” Psarra said about malnourished children in Samos. “The conditions in the field worsen everything.”
Greece is in one of the most popular entrance routes in the European Union (EU) for people who escape from conflict and poverty in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Many do the short but treacherous boat trip from the Turkish coast to the nearby Greek islands, such as skills, often in small inflatable boats without navigation conditions.
ADVERTISINGLast week, At least seven people, including three childrenThey died near the Greek island of Lesbos after the inflatable boat, traveled to have sunk.
Another 23 people survived and were taken to a migrant field in lesbos.
