Construction of walls around Greek refugee camps

21.5.2021

Priority question for written answer  P-002751/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Janina Ochojska (PPE), Łukasz Kohut (S&D), Róża Thun und Hohenstein (PPE), Dietmar Köster (S&D), Younous Omarjee (The Left), Karen Melchior (Renew), Maria Walsh (PPE), Pernando Barrena Arza (The Left), Clare Daly (The Left), Konstantinos Arvanitis (The Left), Erik Marquardt (Verts/ALE), Cornelia Ernst (The Left), Dimitrios Papadimoulis (The Left), Anne-Sophie Pelletier (The Left), Katrin Langensiepen (Verts/ALE), Andrzej Halicki (PPE)

On 4 May, the residents of the Ritsona refugee camp in Greece woke up to discover a three metre high military-grade concrete wall being built around their homes. Its purpose is to separate 3 000 refugees from the local community — even though the camp is far away from Greek settlements. According to a call for bids on the Greek IOM website[1], the same fate awaits 7 000 refugees in three other camps. The wall is built with funds from the Commission’s programme ‘Supporting the Greek Authorities in Managing the National Reception System for Asylum Seekers and Vulnerable Migrants’. The objective of this programme is to promote education and engagement with the local community as part of the process of integration. Walls achieve the exact opposite — they segregate. The refugee camps will turn into de facto prisons, severely deteriorating refugees’ mental health.

In light of the above:

Is the Commission aware of these developments? If so, does it support building concrete walls around Greek refugee camps? Is the construction in line with the values and objectives of the EU and the aforementioned programme?

How much European funds are allocated to building concrete walls in Ritsona and other Greek refugee camps?

• [1] https://greece.iom.int/sites/greece/files/Invitation%20Letter_20.pdf?fbclid=IwAR333iOC5ptpwgLWHon_gFgR8tJuCcOEN5JI3LlDRlF-xb6T7NZR7Tl7X_o