Author: rsaegean.org | 23 January2020
The beginning of the new decade saw more than 21.000 refugees trapped on Lesvos as a result of the continuing implementation of the toxic EU-Turkey deal and the policy of geographic restriction. According to most recent statistics, almost 19.200 registered individuals reside in exceptionally precarious conditions in and around the hotspot that has an official capacity of 2.840 people. The pictures of impoverishment and shocking testimonies that come to light almost daily by international media and the serious impact upon the mental and physical health of thousands of vulnerable refugees tend to become nowadays an accepted ‘normalcy’. Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) spoke with refugees who live in and around the hotspot. The situation in the Moria hotspot reflects something straight out of nightmare that crashes any sense of dignity and civilization and illustrates a seriously deficient reception system and the disastrous consequences of the existing asylum policy of EU Member States.