/22

Thousands of refugees left in cold, as UN and EU accused of mismanagement
United Nations refugee agency and EU’s Echo aid department accused of failing to properly ‘winterise’ camps

In a recent UNHCR video, promoted by Echo, the two institutions hailed the success of their winterisation work. In early December, the EU also said that Greece was safe enough to return refugees there from other European countries.

But refugees and independent aid workers say Echo and UNHCR had initially ignored the gravity of the situation. The head of Medécins Sans Frontières in Greece, Loic Jaeger, described the situation as a failure.

“We are outraged about the positive communications [from UNHCR and the EU] that are completely disconnected with reality,” said Jaeger, speaking before UNHCR began to admit flaws in the process on 9 December.

Jaeger said: “Our feeling is that there is a willingness now, led by the fact that there is a massive amount of money [allocated for winterisation], to try to present the situation as if it is OK. But it is not. On the islands we are still not even starting to winterise. In some places it’s working quite well, but in northern Greece you still have people sleeping in tents in the snow."

▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/22/thousands-of-refugees-left-in-cold-as-un-and-eu-accused-of-mismanagemen

#réfugiés #immigration #migrants #Grèce #camps #campements #UE #UNHCR