2021-10-25
SAMOS-KOS - This cross-border, independent investigation focuses on the newly opened 'closed controlled access centre' on the island of Samos. It is the first "pilot project of the European Union" and opened on 18 September 2021. It was financed entirely (43 million euros) by an EU Commission fund, which vowed to "no more Morias" after Europe's biggest refugee camp, Moria, on the Greek island of Lesvos, burned down last year.
A team of journalists analysed internal documents on the camp's planning process, obtained from European authorities such as DG Home, FRA and EASO through the Freedom of Information Act.
The research shows that the EU and the Greek Ministry of Migration implemented structures in the camp that their own human rights agency had warned about, such as barbed wire fences around the camp, drones flying over the area during refugee transfers, cameras filming residents, and uniformed police officers and a private security firm controlling what happens. The possibilities to leave the camp are also limited. Furthermore, it was made into a “pilot project” that is to be copied EU-wide.
The investigation also focused on Kos, where a new camp is currently being built. It also examined conditions for detainees in the current camp’s detention centre. The research showed that many of these detainees are being held in breach of Greek and EU law.
This was done in collaboration with the Disinfaux Collective and FragDenStaat.
Photo credit: Elisa Perrigueur
Supported
€9,000 allocated on 18/06/2021ID
ECB/2021/690Tags
ONLINE:
- En Grèce, des camps de migrants aux allures de « prisons » vantés par Darmanin - Mediapart, 15/10/2021;
- Das neue Moria - ZDF, 22/10/2021;
- Flüchtende hinter Stacheldraht: Wie die EU den Bau von Lagern unterstützt - FragDenStaat, 22/10/2021;
- Prisons in paradise: Refugees detentions in Greece raise alarm - Aljazeera, 22/10/2021;
- Kameras, Drohnen, Ausgangssperre: Geflüchtete in Griechenland hinter Stacheldraht - BuzzFeed, 23/10/2021
VIDEO:
- Das neue Moria - ZDF, 22/10/2021
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