The Greek government’s policy of denying food to asylum seekers and recognized refugees is pushing thousands into a state of hunger and desperation, leading to a dangerous humanitarian crisis, according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor’s warning today.
The crisis was sparked by the Greek government’s decision, announced on May 17, to provide food only to residents seeking asylum at the Mavrovouni Closed Controlled Access Centre on the island of Lesvos. This policy excludes particularly vulnerable groups, including recognized refugees and those denied refugee status, leaving them without access to primary means of subsistence.
The 300 people living outside the asylum procedure are most severely impacted and are forcibly removed from the centre with no means to sustain themselves. This decision has put them at immediate risk of food insecurity, within the borders of a European state, solely due to the government’s choice.
Michela Pugliese, a Migration and Asylum Researcher at Euro-Med Monitor, remarked, “Europe’s failure to respond humanely to the plight of migrants and refugees has impacted their living conditions in the continent, and Greece is a clear example of this.”
In Greece, recognized refugees, despite their precarious status, are cut off from financial assistance immediately after being granted protection and are asked to leave reception centres within 30 days. Access to support for finding jobs, education, or social benefits is riddled with bureaucratic obstacles, such as lack of residence permits, travel documents, and temporary social security numbers, further complicating their situation.
The situation is even more dire for migrants whose asylum applications have been denied, particularly those rejected under Greece’s consideration of Türkiye as a “safe third country” for nationals of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Somalia, and Syria. These individuals are left in legal limbo without access to legal status, rights, or basic services in Greece, while they cannot return to Türkiye.
Without access to state aid and barred from regular employment due to their lack of legal status, denied asylum seekers are pushed into complete invisibility. This makes them susceptible to violent abuse and exploitation by criminal organizations that prey on their struggle to survive.
Tragically, this is not the first time that migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees have faced food insecurity in Greece. By November 2021, a hunger crisis affected 60 per cent of all mainland camp residents, including many refugees. Furthermore, the closure of the Eleonas Centre and the end of the ESTIA II Housing Programme in December 2022 resulted in overcrowded reception centres, depriving up to 1,000 Ritsona Camp residents of food for months, regardless of their asylum status.
Greece has steadily reduced the quality and quantity of its material reception conditions for years. While the ESTIA program, managed by UNHCR and then the Greek government, supported tens of thousands of refugees over the past seven years, it has now been completed by former migration minister Notis Mitarachi.
The lack of food can have severe health implications, especially for vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, and the elderly. Malnutrition can lead to physical and mental impairments, chronic illnesses, weakened immune systems, and reproductive health issues.
Michela Pugliese, Legal Researcher at Euro-Med Monitor, stressed that the right to food is about being fed and living in conditions that allow individuals to work, have money, and access markets to buy food. Denying recognized refugees without residence permits access to jobs, salaries, or state welfare programs constitutes a form of violence they cannot escape.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor calls on the Greek government to facilitate access to food and water, especially for those unable to access it themselves, ensuring a dignified standard of living as enshrined in international law. They urge the government to guarantee that all residents in reception facilities and aid centres, irrespective of their legal status, have access to necessities.
Additionally, they emphasize the need for the Greek migration and asylum system to recognize that food insecurity is interconnected with housing and job insecurity, urging access to asylum and social support to address the broader issue.
