This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugee-crisis-aid-organisations-end-activities-in-greece-over-government-s-police-run-detention-a6948586.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Refugee crisis: Aid organisations end activities in Greece over government’s ‘police-run’ detention centres Refugee crisis: Aid organisations end activities in Greece over government’s ‘police-run’ detention centres
(about 7 hours later)
Three international aid organisations have followed the United Nations refugee agency in ending activities on the Greek islands in protest at the government’s detention of migrants. Four international aid organisations have followed UNHCR in refusing to work in new refugee detention centres on the Greek islands, in protest at the “unlawful” implementation of the EU-Turkey deal. 
In a blow to the implementation of the migration deal between the EU and Turkey, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said that it would no longer be providing assistance on the island of Chios because it has become “a police-run detention facility” since the agreement came into force on Sunday. Under the deal, virtually all migrants arriving on the Greek islands will be returned to Turkey.  Save the Children said it would no longer be providing assistance to refugees at any of the five refugee “hotspots” it was operating across the Greek islands, due to fears they would now be used to hold migrants for indefinite and unlawful periods of time, since the deal came into force on Sunday. 
The Vial centre in Chios – where the NRC provides water, sanitation and other assistance – and another one on Lesbos had previously been open registration centres, where refugees could go before receiving the required paperwork to leave the island.  The Norwegian Refugee Council also said they would no longer be providing assistance at the Vial registration centre on the island of Chios.
“Now that it is a detention centre we no longer have adequate access to provide assistance to vulnerable refugees,” said Alain Homsy, head of NRC operations in Greece. He warned of a potential humanitarian crisis unfolding.  Under the deal, all migrants arriving to the Greek islands will be returned to Turkey, unless they have a successful claim of asylum. The centres on the five Greek islands had previously been “open” – where refugees could come and go before receiving the required paperwork to leave the island. 
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has also decided to suspend its activities within the former registration facility at Moria, on Lesbos. The group cited concerns that Turkey may not be a safe place to return to, while a blanket expulsion could contravene international law. “We don’t want to have our role used to help expel people en masse... in a blatant breach of their human rights,” said Constance Theisen, MSF’s humanitarian affairs officer.  “Asylum applications, interviews, and assessments could take weeks, or even months, and the result is that asylum-seekers are, and will, be placed in unlawful detention,” said Kirsty McNeill,  director of policy for Save the Children.
The International Rescue Committee has also echoed the United Nations in saying it would no longer provide transport for refugees from the shore to the Moria facility. “We cannot knowingly participate in the transportation of some of the world’s most vulnerable to a place where their freedom of movement is in question,” Panos Navrozidis, the Committee’s Greece country director said.  Their decision followed an announcement the previous day by MSF to suspend its activities in the former registration facility at Moria, on Lesvos, now also a detention centre, citing concerns that Turkey could not be safe place for return. 
A spillover site at the Moria facility, where volunteers had provided food, shelter and advice was packing up after the last of its residents agreed, on police orders, to enter the detention facility. Inside the facility, which has a capacity of 1,300, some refugees said they had not yet been given a chance to register asylum claims. “We don’t want to have our role used to help expel people en masse to target in a blatant breach of their human rights,” Constance Theisen, MSF’s humanitarian affairs officer, said. 
With more than 1,100 people arriving on the islands since the deal came into force, aid agencies say that the detention facilities could become overcrowded well before 4 April, when Greece says it will be ready to begin returning people to Turkey.  Meanwhile the International Rescue Committee echoed the UNHCR in saying it would no longer provide transport for refugees to the Moria facility in protest at its new use. 
“We cannot knowingly participate in the transportation of some of the world’s most vulnerable to a place where their freedom of movement is in question,” Panos Navrozidis, the IRC’s Greece country director said. 
The European Commission has said that, under the deal, asylum seekers will be held in open registration centres, but there has so far been no sign that will be implemented. 
A spillover site at the Moria facility packed up, after the last of its residents agreed to enter the detention facility following orders by police.