Five migrants are participating in a hunger strike to protest their detainment at Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos. Greece has come under recent criticism because authorities were allegedly sending refugees back to Turkey before procedures had been followed.
One of the five migrants, 25-year-old Iranian Amir Abay remains detained despite the fact that the European Court of Human Rights has accepted his appeal for interim measures which he had lodged against his deportation from Lesvos to Turkey. Thanks to his lawyers, Abay was pulled off a return boat bound for Turkey at the last minute after Greek authorities insisted that he should be deported.
He has been in Lesvos for two-and-a-half months. Abay is now striking along with his 31-year-old brother Aras Abay, who has decided to do so to show solidarity with his sibling.
Refugees sent back to Turkey
Greece has come under recent criticism from EU authorities after reports surfaced of some recent cases whereby the authorities were allegedly sending refugees back to Turkey before proper procedures had been followed.
Hussein Kozhen, a 21-year-old Iraqi who has been in Lesvos for nine months, 24-year-old Iraqi Bahrouz Arash as well as Tarik Ibrahim from Syria are also striking. "I request the immediate release of my brother and the other three who are on a hunger strike in Moria; we ask the Greek Asylum Service and the United Nations to listen to our voices," said Aras in a media statement. "How dare you condemn violations of human rights in other countries when you commit human rights violations here? We came to Europe for protection; we came because we were injured, because we were tortured, and because our lives were in danger. But instead of showing us mercy, you treat us as criminals. Barbed wire and prisons are not a place for refugees."
Arrivals on Lesvos up again
According to the latest government figures, a total of 202 migrants and refugees have landed on Lesvos since the start of July. The total number of people stranded on the eastern Aegean island hence increased to 4,057. Meanwhile, there were no arrivals recorded on the neighboring islands of Samos and Chios, authorities said.
An estimated total number of 9,782 migrants are currently housed in Greece's Aegean islands, awaiting the outcome of their claims for asylum to be processed. On nearby Samos, police have rounded up dozens of migrants whose applications for asylum have been rejected for deportation to Turkey. According to reports, authorities detained 138 people in total.
The European Asylum Support Office has reported a change in the ethnic makeup of the migrant influx to Greece. Only 13 percent of those who applied for asylum in the first five months of the year came from Syria, compared to 25 percent in 2015. Over a third (37 percent) of applications were made by Afghans in 2017 so far.