In a report released on 9 June, the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) analyses the accommodation options in Athens, Greece, for asylum seekers and refugees. According to UNHCR, 50,000 refugees who arrived prior to the EU-Turkey deal are currently stranded in Greece, 12,000 of which are based in Athens and its surroundings. As a result of the deal, these refugees have only a few options left: apply for asylum in Greece, apply for relocation to another European country or voluntarily return to their country of origin. The number of potential asylum applicants in Greece leads to a shift in duration and type of residence. Short-term reception capacity will need to be replaced with longer-term solutions.
The CRS report contains information on the existing types of shelters and potential shelters, the living conditions, how they are managed as well as setting out their locations. The report states that all mainland camps in the Athens area are full and that an increasing number of refugees and migrants are sleeping outside.
This article appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin of 17 June 2016. You can subscribe to the Weekly Bulletin here.