Malnutrition Cases Reported in Greek Migrant Camp, Raising Concerns Over Conditions

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has reported the first cases of malnourished children within a migrant camp on the Greek island of Samos, sparking renewed concerns about the living conditions inside the facility, Al Jazeera reports.

The medical charity announced on Monday that its doctors diagnosed six children, aged between six months and six years and originating from Syria and Afghanistan, with acute malnutrition requiring urgent medical attention.

While MSF stated that it could not definitively link the malnutrition directly to conditions within the camp, the organization warned that inadequate food and healthcare resources are placing children at serious risk.

In response, Greece’s Ministry of Migration and Asylum downplayed concerns of widespread malnutrition, asserting that the cases are isolated incidents. The ministry stated that asylum seekers receive three meals daily and insisted that “under no circumstances is there generalised malnutrition due to living conditions.”

Greece, which was at the epicenter of the European migration crisis in 2015-2016, has experienced another increase in migrant arrivals this year. United Nations data indicates that nearly a third of migrants reaching southern Europe from the Middle East and Africa in 2024 have landed in Greece.

The Samos camp, constructed with European Union funding and opened in 2021, is a high-security facility surrounded by barbed wire. It was intended to replace the overcrowded Vathy camp, which previously housed approximately 7,000 people in unsanitary and inadequate conditions. The six malnourished children identified by MSF arrived at the Samos camp this year.

Amnesty International has previously criticized the conditions at the Samos facility, describing them as “inhumane and degrading” during periods of overcrowding, citing issues such as water shortages and a lack of essential services.

Furthermore, a UN human rights expert criticized Greece in December for its failure to identify victims of sex trafficking within the camp.