User:Michaelasabbag/Idomeni

Migrant Living Conditions in idomeni
Refugees into Greece have faced severe human rights violations in the past two decades. Due to the collapse of their economy following the 2008 financial crisis, the country no longer had enough funds or resources to support the massive influx of refugees fleeing the wars in the Middle East. Many camps lack electricity, sanitation, and adequate food supply, leading to sickness amongst their dwellers. One out of every 3 refugees is a child, but they are subject to the same unsafe conditions as the others. In M.S.S. vs Belgium and Greece, the European Court of Human Rights decided that Greece was unfit to house more refugees.

Sh.D. and Others v. Greece, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia
On 15 March 2016, Sh.D. vs Greece was decided by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). After Greece demanded deportation of the five minors, four of them came to Idomeni Refugee Camp, where they remained for about one month. After experiencing unsafe living conditions at the camp, the four refugees complained under Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which protects against inhuman or degrading treatment.

Idomeni Camp is suitable to house 1,500 refugees, but an estimated 13,000 people lived there during the period in which the minors lodged. Additionally, the minors complained that there was little to no sanitation. Precedent in the European Court of Human Rights establishes that countries are required to aid unaccompanied foreign minors, and that the migrant’s fragile status as a minor supersedes their status as an illegal immigrant. Therefore, The ECHR unanimously found that Greece was in violation of Article 3 because the four unaccompanied minor refugees were subject to inhumane conditions “unfit to their age and circumstances” and required Greece to pay the petitioners 6,000 euros each.

Importantly, the Idomeni Camp was set up by refugees, and Greece itself had no legal authority over the region. However, the court maintained that Greece had not done enough work to alleviate the humanitarian crisis happening within its borders. The complaints against all other countries were deemed manifestly ill-founded.

Medical care in Idomeni Refugee Camp
During October 2015, 211,180 refugees passed through Idomeni, 22% of which were children. NGO Médecins Du Monde oversaw all medical treatment in the camp, as the camp did not receive governmental support. Following a multitrauma injury to an eight-year-old child in the camp, several shortcomings in the medical facilities were uncovered. Most notably:


 * There was no emergency trauma kit
 * The oxygen tank was empty
 * There was no backup device for fluid resuscitation if veins were inaccessible for an IV
 * There was no pediatric cuff for the blood pressure reader
 * There were no IV antibiotics on-site.

Although the camp identified and has begun to rectify these failures, the under-supported medical staff leaves the camp volatile.