Doctors without borders warn of child malnutrition in Greek immigration facilities.
The Borderless Doctor (MSF) has reported the first case of a malnourished child in an immigration camp on Samos, Greece, raising new concerns about the situation at the facility.
The medical charity on Monday diagnosed six children in Syria and Afghanistan, between six months and six years old, saying acute malnutrition requires emergency care.
MSF could not confirm whether their condition was directly caused by living in the camp, but warned that inadequate food and medical care put children at serious risk.
“Children should not suffer from malnutrition due to systematic neglect,” MSF Greece director Christina Pusara called for immediate intervention. She noted that about a quarter of the camp residents are children, Reuters reported.
The Greek Ministry of Immigration and Asylum Dismissed concerns about widespread malnutrition, claiming that the lawsuit was segregated. “Under any circumstances there is no generalized malnutrition due to living conditions,” he added that asylum seekers will receive three meals a day.
Greece, which was at the heart of Europe’s 2015-16 immigration crisis, has seen an even more surge in arrivals this year. Almost a third of migrants who reached Southern Europe from the Middle East and Africa in 2024 landed in Greece, according to UN data.
Built with European Union fundraising, Samos Camp opened in 2021 as a highly secure facility surrounded by barbed wire. It replaced the overcrowded Vati camp, which once housed 7,000 people in a creepy state. Six malnourished children have arrived at camp this year, MSF said.
Amnesty International has previously denounced the site’s conditions, describing it as “inhuman and degraded” during periods of overcrowding, resulting in a lack of water and essential services.
In December, UN human rights experts criticized Greece for not identifying victims of sex trafficking in the camp.
MSF is urging Greek authorities and the EU to ensure appropriate pediatric care and nutrition support for asylum seekers. They also called for the recovery of financial aid to refugees who were suspended in June last year.
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