An article in the Athens News by Nicole Itano on refugees reaching the island of Samos. She covers their dangerous journey

The island of Samos lies just 1,650 metres from the coast of Turkey, a distance so short it looks possible to swim. For migrants like Hailezgi, it is an increasingly tantalising gateway to Europe but one also fraught with hidden dangers. The sea sometimes claims an offering: at least three dozen have died this year alone

the appalling detention centre:

Back on land, the migrants are fingerprinted, taken to the hospital for a checkup and then sent to the overcrowded detention centre, housed in an old cigarette factory. At times, more than 300 people - including women and children in contravention of international law - have been crammed into the dingy building, sharing two bathrooms. Fights sometimes break out over sleep pads, and at night every inch of the floor is covered with sleeping bodies. Panagiotis Tsiafidis, Samos’ chief of police, is well aware that the detention centre is a disgrace

and the reaction of the coast guards who intercept them:

With their boss, Captain Thrasyvoulos Stavridopoulos, on board, the crew are careful to say how sorry they are for the migrants and how they are haunted by those they were unable to rescue. But later that night, safely on shore, one member explains how the encounters between the coastguard and boatloads of migrants actually play out.

As the coastguard approaches the vessel, he’s on the bow, armed with a semi-automatic gun and clad in a bullet-proof vest. He barks orders, knowing that as likely as not the migrants will not understand. As they climb on board, the migrants are made to clasp their hands behind their heads and to lie face down on the deck where they stay until they reach land.

“There’s only one of me and many of them, and we have to keep order,” he explains.

Read the whole article from the Athens News here

Technorati: greece, refugees, asylum, immigration, detention,

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