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Photos: Stuck in Greek snow, refugees miss dismal camps

A part of the asylum-seekers staying at the Moria migrant and refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, were transported to the ski lodge at Vasilitsa, at an altitude of 1,000 metres and 45 kilometres (28 miles) from the nearest town of Grevena. The facility, which has seen better days and was about to shut down during Greece's economic crisis, currently hosts 116 asylum-seekers from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Syria. With the onset of the European winter and the arrival of snow, most refugees have to stay inside the houses, thus losing contact with the outside world. Most refer to the camp as an open prison

Updated on: Dec 18, 2019 9:53 AM IST

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Two migrant men walk in the snow by a disused ski lodge near the village of Polineri, in Grevena, some 210km west of Thessaloniki. A part of the asylum-seekers staying at the Moria migrant and refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, were transported to the ski lodge at Vasilitsa, at an altitude of 1,000 metres and 45 kilometres (28 miles) from the nearest town of Grevena. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

Updated on Dec 18, 2019 9:53 AM

Two migrant men walk in the snow by a disused ski lodge near the village of Polineri, in Grevena, some 210km west of Thessaloniki. A part of the asylum-seekers staying at the Moria migrant and refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, were transported to the ski lodge at Vasilitsa, at an altitude of 1,000 metres and 45 kilometres (28 miles) from the nearest town of Grevena. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

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A view of the village of Samarina, in Grevena, some 230km west of Thessaloniki. Sitting in the lobby of a disused ski lodge on a northern Greek mountain, Congolese asylum-seeker Sylva Caumba blankly stares at the unfamiliar snow outside.”I would have preferred staying in Moria,” the 30-year-old says with a touch of desperation, referring to the dismal camp on the Greek island of Lesbos which is packed six times beyond its official capacity. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

Updated on Dec 18, 2019 9:53 AM

A view of the village of Samarina, in Grevena, some 230km west of Thessaloniki. Sitting in the lobby of a disused ski lodge on a northern Greek mountain, Congolese asylum-seeker Sylva Caumba blankly stares at the unfamiliar snow outside.”I would have preferred staying in Moria,” the 30-year-old says with a touch of desperation, referring to the dismal camp on the Greek island of Lesbos which is packed six times beyond its official capacity. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

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“We wake up, we watch TV and we go back to sleep. This is no way to live,” says 20-year-old former footballer Mabika Zordel, also from DR Congo. Nuredin Intze, a 38-year-old from Somalia, agrees that “things were better” in a similarly overcrowded camp on the Greek Aegean island of Leros. The Africans’ plight is part of a broader conundrum facing Greece’s beleaguered migration authorities. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

Updated on Dec 18, 2019 9:53 AM

“We wake up, we watch TV and we go back to sleep. This is no way to live,” says 20-year-old former footballer Mabika Zordel, also from DR Congo. Nuredin Intze, a 38-year-old from Somalia, agrees that “things were better” in a similarly overcrowded camp on the Greek Aegean island of Leros. The Africans’ plight is part of a broader conundrum facing Greece’s beleaguered migration authorities. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

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The facility, which has seen better days and was about to shut down during Greece’s economic crisis, currently hosts 116 asylum-seekers from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Syria. In summer and autumn, the number of asylum-seekers arriving from Turkey on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros steadily increased, cramming people into overcrowded facilities at record levels. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

Updated on Dec 18, 2019 9:53 AM

The facility, which has seen better days and was about to shut down during Greece’s economic crisis, currently hosts 116 asylum-seekers from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Syria. In summer and autumn, the number of asylum-seekers arriving from Turkey on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros steadily increased, cramming people into overcrowded facilities at record levels. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

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Migrant children play in the snow by a disused ski lodge near the village of Polineri. According to government figures, there are now over 40,000 people on these islands, with more than 37,000 of them in camps built to handle just over 6,000. Amid rising anger on the islands, the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently promised to relocate 20,000 asylum-seekers to other facilities on the mainland by the end of the year. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

Updated on Dec 18, 2019 9:53 AM

Migrant children play in the snow by a disused ski lodge near the village of Polineri. According to government figures, there are now over 40,000 people on these islands, with more than 37,000 of them in camps built to handle just over 6,000. Amid rising anger on the islands, the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently promised to relocate 20,000 asylum-seekers to other facilities on the mainland by the end of the year. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

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As in most parts of the country, the response here to the presence of asylum-seeker families and unaccompanied minors is mixed. Operators in isolated areas are frequently grateful for any business in the dead of winter, but many elderly locals in sparsely populated villages are fearful. “They keep having children,” says a local tavern owner. “We have a falling birth rate. At this rate, they will eventually take over.” (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

Updated on Dec 18, 2019 9:53 AM

As in most parts of the country, the response here to the presence of asylum-seeker families and unaccompanied minors is mixed. Operators in isolated areas are frequently grateful for any business in the dead of winter, but many elderly locals in sparsely populated villages are fearful. “They keep having children,” says a local tavern owner. “We have a falling birth rate. At this rate, they will eventually take over.” (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

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Two migrants sit at a fireplace in the lobby of a disused ski lodge. In the meantime the migrants wonder how they can build a life for them halfway up a Greek mountain. Some want to learn Greek, get a job and live a normal life with their families. Some of their children are 10 and not in school. They aren’t asking for anything outrageous. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

Updated on Dec 18, 2019 9:53 AM

Two migrants sit at a fireplace in the lobby of a disused ski lodge. In the meantime the migrants wonder how they can build a life for them halfway up a Greek mountain. Some want to learn Greek, get a job and live a normal life with their families. Some of their children are 10 and not in school. They aren’t asking for anything outrageous. (Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP)

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