Lesvos
- Published:
A large number of individuals in the Lesvos facility reside in tents (RHU) or rubhalls (large, movable structures resembling tents, commonly used in emergency situations). Even members of vulnerable groups are housed in tents (RHU). Newly arrived individuals from other islands, such as Lemnos, are also transferred to this facility.
Key statistics for the Lesvos CCAC
Cold, lack of hot water and basic supplies
One of the most pressing issues in mid-November, amid winter weather conditions, was the lack of hot water within the facility, even for young children and vulnerable individuals residing there.
Testimony
“There is no hot water in the shower to bathe my child” – Fatima*, single mother from Afghanistan with a minor child
Organisations confirm that there is very limited hot water available in the showers, some of which are out of order. Additionally, cases of scabies have been reported in the facility for months. Up until early November, washing machines were not operational. There are only a few hand-washing facilities available, and users face long queues.
Despite the presence of cleaning staff, shared spaces are often not clean. For example, soap is unavailable in the toilets, nor are there dispensers for it.
Hygiene products are provided by civil society organisations. Many of the containers are unused because they require repairs, which are not carried out due to a lack of funding. Residents highlight the presence of dirty mattresses that are not replaced and report infestations of cockroaches and mice in the tents.
Testimony
“Sometimes we pool money to buy insecticide” – Samuel* from Cameroon
Reports also highlight shortages of bedding and clothing. Organisations confirm a lack of blankets, particularly for newly arrived individuals. In recent months, they have been providing blankets and sleeping bags to address the significant shortfall. Heating issues are managed through the distribution of heaters, which are insufficient to meet needs. Residents told us in mid-November that it was cold in the tents at night and that only one blanket per person had been distributed.
Long queues for poor-quality food
Almost all individuals we spoke to stressed that the food provided is of poor quality, making it inedible.
Testimony
“The food they give us smells bad; it’s inedible. My child can’t even stand the smell. I only take the food for the bread and fruit. The rest I’m forced to throw in the trash because it’s not edible” – Fatima*
Some residents even report that the food is spoiled.
Testimony
“The food arrives already decomposed. I’m not sure if it’s often leftovers from the previous day or something else. Nutrition is truly a major issue. If you don’t have money, you will starve” – Samuel*
Testimony
“More than once, I’ve found insects and worms in the lentils” – Bashar*, stateless asylum seeker
This visibly vulnerable man, whose vulnerability has not been officially identified, is forced to wait in the general food queue rather than the special queue for vulnerable individuals.
Testimony
“I have to wait at least an hour and a half in line to get food. Food is distributed once a day, at noon, but we queue separately for lunch and dinner. This means I have to stand in line twice. In the one month and a half I’ve been here, twice when it was my turn, the food had run out” – Bashar*
The organisation All4Aid distributes food packages to individuals who are not entitled to food provision, such as recognised refugees.
Usually, two bottles of drinking water (3 litres) are provided to residents. However, many told us that some days they are only given one bottle (1.5 litres), a practice that was consistent in mid-November. There are no communal taps for drinking water in the facility. Organisations have expressed concerns about residents consuming water from bathroom taps due to cases of waterborne illnesses.
Shortages in Medical and Psychological Support
Serious shortages in medical and healthcare staff are evident in the Lesvos CCAC. According to the Reception and Identification Service’ s response to us (as of 11 November 2024), there is only one general practitioner, one gynaecologist, two midwives, six nurses, one laboratory technician, two psychologists, and one social worker in the CCAC. Newly arrived individuals undergo a basic medical check-up, while no psychosocial evaluation is conducted.
Even individuals with obvious vulnerabilities are not identified.
Furthermore, medical staff only work during business hours, leaving the facility without a doctor at night or on weekends. NGOs attempt to fill this gap, but this complicates prescriptions and referrals, as only certified Greek doctors can issue them. The Vostanio Hospital in Lesvos is also severely understaffed. There is currently no active child psychiatrist on the island, making it impossible to identify minors with mental health vulnerabilities.
Insufficient legal aid
In recent months, due to the speed of procedures, asylum seekers often could not even request legal assistance or have their vulnerabilities identified and certified in time. Registration occurred within 2–5 days, with interviews sometimes held within the next five days.
Currently, the process has slowed down due to a shortage of interpreters, and depending on the language, while interview postponements have also been reported due to a lack of interpretation services. Challenges also persist in certifying and handling survivors of torture and victims of human trafficking.
Vastria: Completion of the new super-facility still pending due to opposition from the local community
The legal battle against the construction of a new CCAC with a nominal capacity of 5,000 or more individuals in a forested area near Vastria, northern Lesvos, adjacent to the landfill, is ongoing.
According to publications, the case will be heard again at the Council of State on 2 February 2025, with the possibility that construction will be ordered to halt, leaving the site as a potential ghost town. The project, funded entirely by the European Union’s Emergency Support Mechanism, has a budget of €76 million (excluding VAT), with most of the funds reportedly already spent. The construction site is near a Natura-protected area within one of the largest pine forests in the Aegean, raising serious concerns about fire risks and catastrophic consequences for the safety of residents and the environment, as in this case the eastern part of the island will be burned.
Despite strong opposition from the local community and the North Aegean Region, which managed to secure initial injunctions for environmental reasons (deforestation), against the widening of the road connecting the facility to the main project and the construction of public utility networks for energy and water/sewage systems, construction continues unabated, even at night. A request for an injunction to permanently halt the works is still pending.
The North Aegean Region has appealed to the Council of State against the validity of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted by the State in September 2023. During the Council’s scheduled session on 16 October, the State decided to withdraw the highly problematic EIA with the reservation of replacing it with another, which has not happened to date. Reports suggest that, to bypass the obstacle of road access to the new facility – which requires road widening and the destruction of an area within the NATURA network – firebreaks were created instead. Meanwhile, the project “Completion – Paving of the Road to the Lesvos Landfill,” which connects the road network to the Vastria facility, is proceeding and has also sparked reactions.
Beyond road access, a critical unresolved issue remains the facility’s water supply, which the authorities aim to address through desalination.
The original contract stipulated a completion date for the project in May 2022, but it has yet to be implemented. Dozens of organisations and local initiatives, in collaboration with municipal community leaders, have been collecting signatures online since October to oppose the construction of the new CCAC in Vastria.
On 26 November, the Municipal Council approved the revocation of its 2021 decision that had approved the Vastria facility. Through the same decision, the Council declared its opposition to the creation of any large-scale facility elsewhere on the island, as well as to the construction of the road to the landfill. The local community, which has experienced the consequences of flawed policies related to the refugee issue more than any other, opposes the establishment of a large-scale facility and advocates only for the operation of a small registration centre.
*Names of persons cited in this publication have been changed to protect safety and privacy.
Read also
Main report on all the islands
The situation in the CCACs in detail by island:
Available also in greek / Διαθέσιμο και στα ελληνικά
Our previous publication on the situation in Lesvos (2023)
Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), December 2024