Migrants staying at the makeshift camp at the derelict old Athens airport were moved out of the site on Friday as the Greek police finally moved in to conclude its efforts to clear the controversial site following months of delays.
The last remaining 100 people including families boarded buses bound for alternative purpose-built, organized facilities in other parts of the country on Friday. Authorities confirmed that most of the population which had been housed at Elliniko will be moved to a brand new facility recently inaugurated in the town of Thiva, 93km north of the Greek capital. At one point, the total number of people living at the old airport shelter had numbered 3,000.
Refugees transferred to in Thiva
"Most of the refugees from Elliniko are being transferred to more appropriate open-ended structures in Thiva, with the full consent of the local authorities and the mayor," Greece's secretary of state for migration policy Giannis Balafas told state broadcaster ERT. "The makeshift structure at the old airport was a remnant of the first tragic phase of the mass reception of refugees in our country, when people were moved there after the Idomeni camp on the border for FYROM was shut down in 2015."
Elliniko 'unfit for humans'
The government had long promised to close the Elliniko site, with Human rights groups such as Amnesty International constantly criticizing conditions there as "deplorable and unfit for humans". Last month the organization called on the government to close down the site immediately, lamenting that "women and underage girls live in constant fear of sexual and verbal abuse." Amnesty stated that the migrants living at the Elliniko site have been living in squalor in tents for over a year with insufficient number of toilets and showers, and limited privacy, with the situation leading to increased rates of depression and anxiety, as well as suicide attempts. Balafas sought to defend Greece's efforts, insisting that the country was doing its best under extreme circumstances.
Mostly Afghan refugees
"We take our position very seriously and we are doing our absolute best; I think the image of our country abroad is very good," he said. "We went through a state of extreme emergency, accepting thousands upon thousands of people in open and makeshift accommodation structures and now we are trying to move them into accommodation with more human living conditions."
The mainly Afghan refugees living at Elliniko - which until 2001 was the Athens airport - have been housing themselves in the crumbling flight lounges and abandoned sports facilities in the surrounding area which were built for the 2004 Olympics. A total of over 62,000 migrants and refugees heading to northern Europe have been stranded in Greece since countries in the Balkans closed their borders in March last year. The government will now press ahead with the redevelopment of Elliniko into a seaside resort, after a lease deal with private investors was agreed earlier this year under its bailout program.