Covid Chronicles: If we stay silent...
This video is by Parwana Amiri, a human rights activist, published author and refugee living in Greece.
She told us: “While we’re struggling for integration in society, Ritsona Camp on the Greek mainland is going to be changed to a closed camp with 3 metre high walls all around it. After Diavata camp, it is now Ritsona’s turn. If we stay silent, all refugee camps in Europe will be turned into detention centres. I am afraid to wake up one day in Ritsona Camps and see a wall all around. These walls show us that we are isolated, detained in a prison and will exclude us from the right of integration in society. Let’s stand against it and give us the chance to live freely. We strongly stand against allocating European funds to build walls around Greek refugee camps. The ongoing fencing work at the Ritsona, Polykastro, Diavata, Malakasa and Nea Kavala camps must stop immediately. Greece, with the full support of the European Union, is turning refugee camps into de-facto prisons. Millions of euros allocated for building walls should be spent on education, psychological support and the improvement of hygienic conditions in the refugee camps.”
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This material is part of the Covid Chronicles from the Margins project, funded by The Open University and The Hague. The project aims to highlight the impact of the pandemic on refugees, asylum seekers & undocumented migrants.
