
SAMOS-KOS - This cross-border independent investigation focuses on the newly opened “closed controlled access center” on the island of Samos. The first “pilot project of the European Union” that opened on the 18th of September 2021 and was entirely financed (43 Million Euros) by a fund of the EU-Commission, which vowed to “No Moria Morias”, after Europe's biggest refugee Camp Moria, on the Greek island of Lesvos burned down last year.
A team of journalists have analysed internal documents on the planning process of the camp obtained through the Freedom of Information Act from European authorities such as DG Home, FRA and EASO.
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 (barbed wire fences the camp, drones fly over the area when transferring refugees, cameras film the residents, uniformed police officers and a private security firm control what happens and the possibilities to leave the camp are limited). And furthermore, made it to its “pilot project” that should be copied EU-wide.
The investigation is also focused on the island of Kos, where a new camp is currently under construction, and also looked into the conditions for those detained in the current camp’s detention centre, many of whom, the research showed, are being detained in breach of Greek & EU law.
In collaboration with Disinfaux Collective and FragDenStaat.
Photo credit: Elisa Perrigueur
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
need resources for your own investigative story?
Journalismfund Europe's flexible grants programmes enable journalists to produce relevant public interest stories with a European mind-set from international, national, and regional perspectives.
support independent cross-border investigative journalism
We rely on your support to continue the work that we do. Make a gift of any amount today.