Refugees Live with Uncertainty in Piraeus Port

A Syrian refugee living at a refugee camp in terminal E1 of Greece’s Piraeus port looks through a pile of abandoned clothing. PHOTO — ERIK E MUELLER

Refugees living at tent camps in the port of Piraeus, Greece are growing restless. Recent moves by Greek and EU governments are not helping.

At its high point, the port of Piraeus housed nearly 6,000 refugees. Today, it is the home of over 4,500 people fleeing wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The informal camps are not equipped to properly handle the numbers of people living there.

Syrian refugees walk through a refugee camp at terminal E2 of Piraeus port soon after it rained on March 25. PHOTO — ERIK E MUELLER

Some defecate in corners of the camp. Children urinate just outside their tents. Most people have not showered in weeks. Few have tents properly equipped to keep out water when it rains. Many are sick. Fights break out between refugees on a regular basis. Refugees continue to ask if and when the Macedonian border will open. Most still dream of continuing on to other parts of Europe.

Few believe that Greece will be able to provide them with the means to rebuild their lives. They understand Greece is dealing with a shaky economy.

Syrian refugee children play with a shopping cart at Piraeus port’s terminal E2. PHOTO — ERIK E MUELLER

Many would like to end up in Germany or Sweden. Most indicate they are willing to go anywhere that they can find work, a home and where their children can go to school.

The Greek government has been seeking to move refugees from the informal camps of Piraeus port to government run refugee camps spread out around the country.

Syrian refugees wait to board buses at Piraeus port’s terminal E2 to camps in other parts of Greece on Mar 31. PHOTO — ERIK E MUELLER

The timetable for when refugees are supposed to leave the port regularly changes. The government sought to peacefully relocate refugees and has regularly changed the dates by which refugees had to move.

The current deadline appears to be within the next two weeks. If refugees have not left the port by then the government is saying it will remove them by force. Though it is possible this timetable might change like others given out by Greek authorities.

On Sunday, a translator told refugees they had to vacate terminals E3 and E1 by Tuesday or they would be evicted by police. Few refugees made any effort to move and the police did not forcibly remove people at the end of that deadline.

On Wednesday, a Greek official told refugees living at E3 they would have to leave by the following day. “Same thing as always. They say to move and we won’t move,” said Anwar, a Palestinian refugee from Daraa, Syria.

A refugee moves his belongings from Piraeus port’s terminal E3. He did not board either of the buses. April 7. PHOTO — ERIK E MUELLER

But the government enforced this deadline. The government provided buses to a camp in the Katerini area in northern Greece. Few refugees boarded these buses and instead many moved to terminal E1. Some said they were heading to camps at Ellinko or Idomeni. Others didn’t know where they would go.

Most Piraeus refugees refuse to go to government camps. They’ve heard life is not much if at all better in them. They complain these locations are far from cities and that there is access to more freedom, information, assistance and infrastructure in the port. Many won’t go where they cannot be easily accessed by journalists.

Many belongings were left abandoned at terminal E3 after refugees vacated the refugee camp that had been set up there. PHOTO — ERIK E MUELLER

Currently many government camps are barred to the press.

Some have voluntarily left for state-run camps only to return to Piraeus. They complain of horrible conditions and believe the government is trying to hide them from journalists, tourists and civilians. One refugee claimed to have not eaten for three days and that he slept atop rocks. Many complain of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

Complaints from returnees have made most unwilling to go to formal Greek refugee camps until they’ve been provided with more information and transparency. Most want press to be able to access the camps so people outside of those communities can obtain independent information about refugee life in Greek camps.

On April 4, Iraqi Yazidi refugees were told they were going to be brought to a camp of their own. Most refused to get on buses citing a lack of formal information from the Greek government.

Refugees line up to receive meals from aid workers and volunteers at terminal E2 of Piraeus port on March 22. PHOTO — ERIK E MUELLER

Increasingly refugees living in Piraeus are losing confidence in Greek, European and UN officials. Many are still uncertain of whether the government intends to deport them even though they had arrived before the EU-Turkey agreement’s deadline of Mar 20. Increasing numbers believe the government intends to use state-run refugee camps to deport them back to Turkey.

“Syria is better than Turkey,” said Hanaa Eithman of the Yarmook Camp in Damascus, Syria after disclosing her belief that government camps would be used to send refugees to Turkey.

Most complain of continued delays to their requests for asylum. They complain that their Skype and telephone appointments are continuously pushed back and that agencies delay taking on their cases for weeks if not a month.

Refugee tents set up at terminal E1 of Piraeus port. PHOTO — ERIK E MUELLER

Some refugees, fearing that they will be living in tents for months, have chosen to give up their asylum and try their luck returning to unsafe states like Iraq. At least four Iraqis living in Piraeus have given up their requests for asylum this week and have requested to return to Kurdish controlled areas of Northern Iraq.