Yesterday the new camp in Kara Tepe, Lesvos, was again hit with heavy rain, and as predicted, it again flooded many areas of the camp. What little people had got soaking wet, mud water mixed with sewage entered the tents, who mostly is raised straight on the ground, some even without flooring. What you see is the result of a few hours of rain, what it will be like when winter really sets in, well you can imagine..
After the previous rainfall five days ago, the Greek government promised to take swift action to fix issues of flooding, so that it wouldn’t happen again. If anything was done, it seemed to have had no effect, yesterday the camp was flooded again.
It’s not as this should come as a big surprise to anyone, the forecast was quite clear, and we all knew this would happen. The area is known to be flooded when the rain starts, and there isn’t put in sufficient drainage to handle the water that will poor down in the coming months. Most of the tents are put directly on the ground, without gravel or pallets, many without any flooring at all.
I wonder what UNHCR and the Red Cross was thinking when they put up summer tents in this area, with no flooring, no insulation and no possibility for heating. This camp is down by the sea, they will have no protection from the elements, people will literally freeze to death when winter rely sets in.
It’s not like UNHCR don’t have the money to provide proper housing for the many thousands who live in this camp, but it seems like they are playing ball with the Greek government, supporting the Politics of the right wing party New Democracy, where the main goal is to make life in camps in Greece as inhuman as humanly possible. What we see today in the new camp on Lesvos is a perfect example on what happens when head of UNHCR in Greece, Philippe Leclerc, “goes to bed” with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, from New Democracy.
After a month people in the camp still don’t have running water, no showers, insufficient electricity, no drainage, no sewage system, insufficient housing, insufficient food supply, insufficient medical care, the list just goes on. With the tremendous amount of money that has been pored in to Greece, it’s obvious that the money doesn’t end up where it should, someone is “eating the pie”, leaving only the crumbs to vulnerable people in the Greek camps.