← RETURN TO ADVOCACY LIBRARY

Asylum seekers hold peaceful protests calling on government to reinstate interpretation services

7th November 2024

Asylum seekers are protesting in Greek refugee camps due to the lack of interpreters in the asylum service, which has left them in limbo for months on end, unable to progress their asylum claims.

“I have just one request: we need interpreters. We need interpreters so we can move on with our asylum procedures. We need interpreters so we can go out and find work. We are facing a huge injustice.”

(woman living in Koutsochero refugee camp who is protesting delays in scheduling of asylum interviews due to lack of interpreters) 

In recent days Mobile info Team (MIT) has been contacted by multiple people living in refugee camps who are protesting extensive delays in their asylum procedures, due to severe shortages in interpretation services impacting Greece’s asylum system and provision of interpretation in most accommodation facilities on the mainland. Since mid-September, interpretation in the Greek asylum service and in refugee camps on the mainland have been virtually non-existent, due to delays in renewing contracts by the responsible Ministry of Migration and Asylum.

People shared photos and videos of peaceful protests in Kavala camp in northern Greece and Koutsochero camp, a remote facility situated in a mountainous region of central Greece. Camp residents including families with small children have been holding protests for several consecutive days, calling for interview dates to be scheduled and highlighting the severe psychological distress stemming from their uncertain situation. 

Residents in refugee camps shared their extreme frustration at being left in the dark about when asylum interviews will be scheduled, while the lack of interpreters within camps leaves them without any means to effectively communicate their needs to camp authorities. In some messages, people reported repression of protests by camp management staff, including through confiscation of protest signs and verbal abuse. 

Those we have spoken with arrived in Greece between three and four months ago and spent extended periods of time under de facto detention in screening centres for new arrivals on the mainland, before being transferred to refugee camps while they await their asylum interviews. The individuals we are in contact with report that they have been transferred between multiple camps on the mainland, some of which are in extremely isolated locations, far from urban centres and support services. 

Testimony from a member of a group of families protesting in Koutsochero camp: 

“We are seven families protesting in Koutsochero camp, including children. The main reason for the protest is to get appointments for our asylum interviews. We want to go out [of the camp] and search for work, so we can provide for our families. But we need papers to do that. 

We arrived in Koutsochero camp on 4th October and we still do not have an interview date. They told us there are no appointments because there are no interpreters. We arrived in Greece in August and have been moved to three different camps. For one and a half months we were in detention in Sintiki camp, which is in the middle of nowhere. 

We are doing this protest because we are being forgotten here. 

There are no interpreters in the camp. There is one member of our group who speaks limited English and she helps us communicate, but only the basics. 

Because of the lack of interpreters, the legal procedure is halted. But it’s not just the legal situation - a lot of things rely on having papers. In order to find work so we can support our families, we need to have papers. 

We were told that we would receive cash assistance. We signed for cash assistance on 5th October but we haven’t received any payments yet. And the payments are only 210 euros for a family, no matter how many members there are in the family. 

Koutsochero camp is very far from the nearest city [Larissa]. We haven’t been out of the camp because of this. My two children were begging me to leave the camp. 

We want our voices to be heard. We are asking for a basic right. Even more for our children. We supposedly came to a country of freedom but our children are struggling. There is no sense of freedom.”

Testimony from a member of a group protesting in Kavala camp: 

“We have been in Kavala camp for two and a half months and nothing has happened [with our asylum claims]. We first came to Rhodes island and then the authorities sent us to Malakasa [Reception and Identification Centre], but instead of registering us there, they moved us to Diavata [Reception and Identification Centre], where we stayed for 30 days before getting the asylum seeker card. 

It’s been four days now that we are protesting. There are 25 of us. We protested peacefully, we held signs written on them saying that we need interpreters. Our signs have been taken away from us and we have been yelled at. Each day, one of us falls ill, because of the [stress of the] situation. 

We would like to know why there are no interpreters. We don’t know why. I don’t know how to describe the psychological state we are in.

We are close to the sea here and people are considering committing suicide because of the lack of interpretation here. If a human life is lost, it’s because of that. 

We left our countries because of the injustice and we came to Greece supposedly as a safe country. But now we are facing all of this injustice and the manager is threatening to kick us out.

We are exhausted. We need help. We need a solution.” 

The protests take place against a backdrop of long standing under-resourcing of Greece’s asylum and reception services, including the persistent disruptions to provision of interpretation services and poor living conditions and limited access to services in refugee camps. Demonstrations against asylum delays were also reported last week at the Malakasa Reception and Identification Centre, during a visit of the German President to the facility. 

MIT stands in solidarity with people protesting delays in asylum procedures and calls on the authorities to immediately take decisive action to reinstate interpretation services, both in the asylum service and in accommodation facilities across the Greek mainland and islands.