Resource October 3, 2016

Meet the Journalist: Sonia Shah

Country:

Author:
Koutsochero camp, Larisa, Greece.
English

Europe's failure to provide adequate health care to tens of thousands of migrants trapped in Greece...

SECTIONS
Many were evacuated to camps like this one, in Larisa, Greece. It’s located on a fenced gravel lot dotted with tents, off the side of a divided highway lined by fields the color of sand, over three-hours drive from Athens in one of the hottest, driest parts of the country. More than 800 Afghans and Syrians were deposited here, in the middle of nowhere, by government busses months ago, with no information on why or for how long. Image by Frederick Atax.
Refugees were evacuated to camps like this one, in Larisa, Greece. It is located on a fenced gravel lot dotted with tents, off the side of a divided highway lined by fields the color of sand, over three-hours drive from Athens in one of the hottest, driest parts of the country. More than 800 Afghans and Syrians were deposited here, in the middle of nowhere, by government busses, with no information on why or for how long. Image by Frederick Atax. Greece, 2016.

In recent weeks, the flow of migrants fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere into Greece has spiked, adding to the 57,000 people already trapped there by border closings across Europe. In refugee camps, squats, and ad hoc settlements across the country, sanitary conditions are deteriorating. Whether the country's health system, already decimated by years of budget cuts, will be able to prevent an epidemic remains unclear. Already, there's been more malaria in 2016 than in all of 2015, forcing Greek public health officials to ban blood donations in a dozen Greek municipalities.

RELATED TOPICS

navy halftone illustration of a female doctor with her arms crossed

Topic

Health Inequities

Health Inequities
teal halftone illustration of a family carrying luggage and walking

Topic

Migration and Refugees

Migration and Refugees

RELATED CONTENT