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Living Conditions for Refugees in Greece Worsen as Numbers Increase

idomeni43The refugee situation in Greece is becoming desperate as numbers increase and bad weather and infectious diseases create health hazards.
Thousands of refugees and migrants are stranded at Idomeni, in the Greece-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border. As numbers increase, so do food and drugs shortages. Also comforts such as shelter, toilets, or water are not available to all.
idomeni33Many refugees struggle daily for the elementary, such as drugs, food, blankets, which dwindle as new refugees arrive. There is a problem with access to toilets and clean water for washing. Voluntary groups warn that these deficiencies fester the risk of infectious diseases.
Similar conditions exist at the Piraeus Port with thousands of migrants and refugees trapped there. Many of them sleep outdoors as there are no facilities there to accommodate them.
Deputy Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas acknowledges the situation. “We will deal with the problem by offering more health assistance to refugees, we will feed them all and tell them that (at Idomeni) there are two more kilometers full of tents.”
According to data from the Refugee Crisis Coordinating Center, on Thursday morning 2,501 people were hosted in four hotspots, 8,647 stayed in the four open hospitality structures (Schisto, Diavata, Nea Kavala and Cherso), 720 at Elaionas, and 5,290 in the three areas of Ellinikon former airport. In Idomeni it is estimated that there are 10,000 people and 1,800 at Piraeus Port. Also, 490 refugees are hosted in hotels leased by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at Thermopylae and the Smokovo Baths of Karditsa.
On Thursday, landscaping to create a refugee accommodation center on the runway of a former army airport at Giannitsa has started. The camp is expected to have 500 tents and host 4,000 people. Also, work continues for the full configuration of the spaces in the hot spot of Moria (construction of the fourth registration station), Samos (installation of hatches) and Kos (infrastructure construction work is ongoing). In the centers of Diavata the second phase of works is ongoing, while at Elaionas excavation works have started to make an extension to the existing facility.
320 refugees crossed the Greek-FYROM buffer zone in 24 hours
A total of 320 refugees crossed the Greek-FYROM buffer zone over the last 24 hours.
More than 10,000 refugees have been stranded in the area in rather difficult conditions after Thursday’s rainstorm. The buffer zone is now closed again.
One-year-old refugee child passes at Lesbos 
Α one-year-old child passed on Wednesday night at the Lesbos Hospital. The infant was at the Moria hotspot of the island and was carried to the hospital by his mother.
The infant and his mother arrived on the island on Wednesday morning. They were at the refugee registration center when the child showed difficulty in breathing and had a swollen stomach. The mother carried him to the hospital where the infant died late on Wednesday night.
The mother said that the child was ill while in Turkey as well where he was examined by a doctor.
Doctors of the pediatric clinic spent hours on the child but his condition was irreversible. The infant passed at 8:00 pm and doctors ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

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