For a few months now, more people from Turkey have been arriving in Greece again. The refugee camps on the Greek islands are correspondingly full. On Lesbos, the notorious Moria camp has been making negative headlines for years. The Norwegian child psychologist Katrin Glatz Brubakk has worked there several times. Now she is publicly denouncing the conditions in Moria.
SRF News: In the subtitle of your book you write that Europe has betrayed morals and humanity. How do you come to this assessment?
Katrin Glatz Brubakk: The situation in Moria, as I saw it myself, represents a blatant breach of human rights. Children cannot go to school, health care is very limited, and people in the camp are locked behind four meter high barbed wire fences. The fundamental rights of the Human Rights Charter do not appear to apply to these people.
Legend:
Imago/Nikolia Apostoloux
According to the Greek government, over 9,000 people from Turkey arrived on the Aegean islands in the first quarter of 2024 alone. In the same period in 2023, there were fewer than 4,000 refugees and migrants on Samos. Human rights groups explain the increase primarily by the fact that the Greek and EU border authorities are carrying out fewer actually illegal pushbacks – i.e. turning away people seeking protection at the border, in this case on the sea between Turkey and the Greek islands.
With the many new arrivals, the space in the refugee camps is becoming even more limited. The Greek government is now planning another camp on Samos – financed with EU money. Listen to Rodothea Seralidou’s report, she recently visited Samos.
You have repeatedly looked after children in Moria in recent years. What are your impressions?
Actually, a new diagnosis should be defined for these children: “Moria”. The living conditions for the children are so bad that they become sick: they live in constant fear, have no content during the day, live in eternal waiting, not knowing what will happen to them.
All the children wouldn’t be sick if they didn’t have to live in Moria.
Some children therefore withdraw, no longer play, and do not develop in the way that would be normal for children. Others are very restless, banging their heads against the wall or floor, biting themselves or pulling out their hair. None of them would be so sick if they didn’t have to live in Moria.
Do the children receive support from the Greek authorities?
Barely. They should actually be able to go to school and receive health care. But only a few can attend school – and these few have to go to Greek schools where Greek is spoken. There is also no psychological support for the children in the Moria camp itself; it is only available in two Doctors Without Borders medical centers outside the camp.
Legend:
The old Moria camp on Lesbos, which was completely overcrowded at the time and actually unsustainable, burned down in autumn 2020. In February 2021, a new camp of the same name was opened at a different location on Lesbos (pictured).
Keystone/Panagiotis Balaskas
How were you able to help the children yourself?
My help and that of my colleagues is just a small band-aid on a huge wound. Above all, we try to help the children not to lose hope for their own future. The endless waiting without knowing what will happen next plunges many children into apathy and depression. That’s why it’s important that they don’t lose hope despite everything.
The Greek authorities are well aware of how bad things are for the children in Moria.
How are the Greek authorities responding to your allegations?
I have no direct contact with the Greek authorities in Athens. But Doctors Without Borders and I personally have repeatedly conveyed to those responsible what the situation is. So the Greek authorities know how bad things are for many children in Moria.
After your strong criticism, will you still be allowed access to the Moria camp?
I’ll see if I can still get in. Thank God there are still some organizations that work outside the camp. And somehow I will be able to help some of the children. It also remains unclear whether I will soon be one of those volunteers who will be criminalized. A number of my colleagues have already been suspected of being smugglers or spies. They were just helping people. Given them something to drink or a warm blanket.
The interview was conducted by Daniel Hofer.