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Migrants 'contemplating suicide' at protest-hit Greek camp

Story by AFP
• 3h • 4 min read



At Sintiki camp, police have repeatedly clashed with incarcerated migrants trying to break out after months in detention© Sakis Mitrolidis

A migrant camp championed by Greece's conservative government as a 'model' for Europe has been rocked by repeated protests, with asylum seekers describing conditions so desperate that some say they are contemplating suicide.



The unrest has taken a visible toll on the facility© Sakis Mitrolidis

Greece, which takes a hard line on migration, is one of five European Union countries working to set up "return hubs" outside the EU to where migrants refused asylum could be sent.



Activists who have visited have described conditions there as 'wretched'© Sakis Mitrolidis

A meeting of 17 European countries' interior ministers to discuss this project is due to take place Saturday in Germany.
At the EU-funded Sintiki camp near Greece's border with Bulgaria, police have repeatedly clashed with incarcerated migrants trying to break out after months in detention.

In an open letter last month, some of the nearly 400 Egyptian and Bangladeshi migrants held there said they were "exhausted", barely getting enough to eat, and forced to share four bathrooms.
"Many of us are contemplating suicide... we are crushed, physically, psychologically and ethically... please save us," they wrote.
AFP was unable to get access to the occupants of Sintiki.
- 'Time bombs' -
For people from Bangladesh, the rate of acceptance for asylum applications is less than one percent, according to Greek migration ministry figures. The same goes for applications from Egypt and Pakistan.



Migration Minister Thanos Plevris has suggested the camp's harsh conditions are meant to deter future arrivals© Sakis Mitrolidis

Under the terms of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which came into force in June, people applying for refugee status are detained until their case has been examined. If their bid is rejected, they remain imprisoned until being sent back.
The migrants also asked for permission to work so they could support their families back home.

Migrants 'contemplating suicide' at protest-hit Greek camp