The evacuation of Elliniko camp refugee camp is quietly underway

The camp opened in 2016 and hosted Afghan nationals

AthensLive News

Published in

AthensLive

3 min readMay 27, 2017

Photos: A. Christofilopoulos

Elliniko is the out-of-business airport on the outskirts of Athens and a the makeshift camp opened after Macedonia shut down its borders.

The camp was intended to be temporary, but residents lived there for months. Finally, the Greek government has kept its promise, and all asylum-seekers are moved in other facilities. By Monday, the camp will be empty and the remaining 25 families will be moved in apartments and camps.

Since 2016, UN Refugee Agency has relocated 420 people from Elliniko to apartments. The number is comprised of single-parent families, families with young children, people in need of medical or psychiatric observation, and victims of sexual and racial violence.

The remaining 700 people are now being evacuated.

The authorities plan to move residents to locations near Attiki.” Some are an hour’s drive away from the Attica region, where Athens is. Many have developed a routine and feel at ease in Greece’s capital, after a year of living in Elliniko. Children have been taking classes at the camp’s school, and adults have found employment. They are not keen to sever these roots.

Here’s what AmnestyInternational wrote in one of their reports a month ago.

Over a thousand refugees and migrants face uninhabitable and unsafe conditions in three camps in Elliniko, Athens. Women and girls are at risk of sexual and gender-based violence. The authorities must urgently provide residents with adequate alternative housing, following a genuine consultation, with a view to close the camps.

Reports claim that Thiva, where many will be transferred, is not ready to be inhabited. The officials’ line insists that the residents will be moved into house and apartments.