The refugee crisis in Greece and the Crimes Against Humanity that are being perpetrated against them have reached a level of disgrace that is unimaginable in our modern world. With the vast majority of the refugees who are currently in Greece enduring criminally deplorable living conditions with no end in sight, the situation is dire.
Unfortunately, the inhumane circumstances of this crisis are largely driven by politics and corruption. However, there is a way for these atrocities to come to an immediate stop and that is by you and me raising our voices on behalf of those who cannot defend or speak out for their own basic human rights. In order to make a real change, it is important to understand why this crisis exists and how it has become known as the worst handling of refugees in modern history.
***At the bottom of this page, you will find an email template that can be sent to the International Criminal Court to help us immediately stop the Crimes Against Humanity that are taking place here in Greece before the severe winter conditions set in.
> WHY IS THERE A REFUGEE CRISIS IN GREECE?
- In 2015, a series of tragic incidences involving refugees dying as they fled across the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, triggered Europe to open their borders to people fleeing violence in the Middle East, Africa, and South & Central Asia. Greece is the easiest entry point to Europe, and therefore, became the gateway to over 1 million refugees seeking asylum in Europe.
- As the influx of refugees became more than countries in Europe were willing and/or able to accept, the number of refugees coming to Greece has decreased, but the incoming flow has never stopped. With almost every country in Europe refusing to accept any more refugees and having physically closed their borders to prevent entry, Greece has become a literal prison hell for refugees, with some people being stuck here in limbo for years waiting for their asylum to be accepted or rejected.
> WHAT IS THE CURRENT REFUGEE SITUATION IN GREECE?
Currently, there are tens of thousands of war refugees stranded in camps on the Eastern islands of the Aegean Sea in Greece. The worst of these camps is the Moria Camp on the island of Lesvos, where the grounds were outfitted for no more than 2,000 people but is currently home to more than 10,500 refugees and counting. The conditions at Moria Camp are grossly overcrowded, extremely dangerous and inhumane, to say the least. The war refugees that have fled the violence in their countries are deliberately and systematically having horrendous crimes perpetrated against them in order to dissuade future refugees from coming to Europe, and specifically from entering Europe through Greece, even though the European Union just 3 years earlier had publically called for the refugees to come to seek safety and refuge within its borders.
LIFE AT MORIA CAMP
- Refugees at Moria Camp are forced to live in horrendous raw sewage and waste, with no access to hot water or proper shelter, many of them must weather freezing winds and rain in nothing more than plastic tarps that blow away in 50-70 mile per hour winds, once they get drenched with rain and are freezing, they have no way to become dry or warm, resulting in MOST adults and nearly all children having pneumonia and hyperthermia, and now there is a tuberculosis outbreak as well.
- Women and children are routinely raped, as well as boys and men, with the police systematically turning a blind eye. Children as young as 5 years old are attempting suicide, as well as adults. Along with widespread hunger, thirst, malnourishment, starvation, and no access to proper mental or medical help, THE MOST vulnerable humans on planet earth are being detained against their will in these “Refugee Camps” that the Mayors’ of the city’s in Greece where they are located have described them instead as “Concentration Camps” like Auschwitz, and NOT actually “Refugee Camps.”
- Every single world-wide aide organization, including Doctors Without Borders and Médecins Sans Frontières, have called the Moria Refugee Camp on the island of Lesvos in Greece “THE WORST REFUGEE CAMP ON EARTH”, and have been forced to leave the Moria Camp because of the horrific conditions, as they can not keep their aide workers in those dangerous and unsafe, unsanitary and disease-laden environments.
- It is estimated that over 1.6 BILLION EUROS (roughly $2.25 billion dollars at the time) has been allocated for the refugee crisis and according to anti-fraud agencies and government officials, upwards of 70-80% of the total Refugee Aide Funds are “missing, unaccounted for, or misappropriated”. There has been widespread corruption in the Greek government & European Union for decades, which is a surprise to no-one, but to steal from the most vulnerable people on earth and leave them in horrific conditions is incomprehensible and intolerable.
These refugees have fled the nightmare of having missiles and bombs dropped on their homes and family members executed by terrorists, in the hope of gaining refuge only to find themselves in an unending cycle of suffering – with absolutely no hope for their future. To say the situation at Moria Camp is appalling is an understatement and the fact that this camp has become known as “THE WORST REFUGEE CAMP ON EARTH” and that it rests on European soil is absolutely despicable.
>WHY ARE WE INVESTED IN ENDING THIS CRISIS?
As my husband and I watched the progression of this crisis from America, we could not bring ourselves to live without doing something to intervene. My husband’s Greek grandmother was abandoned in an orphanage during the Turkish massacres of Greeks and genocide of Armenians during World War I, and as a war refugee herself, she instilled a deep sense of compassion in her grandson for the oppressed. For us to have awareness of the atrocities that are taking place in my husband’s homeland of Greece and to not do something to help was literally impossible for us. Which is why we have decided to move to Greece – so that we can be a part of bringing this crisis, and these crimes, to an end.
> WHAT CAN BE DONE TO END THIS CRISIS?
[email protected] [email protected]
Hello,
I am a concerned citizen demanding an immediate STOP to the Crimes Against Humanity taking place in the “Refugee Camps” in Greece, ESPECIALLY the “Moria Refugee Camp” on the island of Lesvos.Specifically in reference to Article 7 of the Rome Statute defining Crimes against Humanity:
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law
(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.Please investigate immediately, thank you.
We appreciate your support in standing in solidarity with us to bring these horrific crimes to an end. The only effective way to forge a long-term refugee solution is to first bring the current suffering to an immediate stop. Thank you for taking the time to fight for the basic human rights we all deserve.
> CURRENT NEWS & RESOURCES
NEW YORK TIMES: ‘Better to Drown’: A Greek Refugee Camp’s Epidemic of Misery
BBC: ‘The Worst Refugee Camp on Earth’
THE GUARDIAN: ‘We Have Found Hell’: Trauma Runs Deep For Children at Dire Lesvos Camp
INFO MIGRANTS: Greek Police Undergo Blood Tests Amid Tuberculosis Scare at Moria Camp
