Asylum seekers at Pournara protest over living conditions

Hundreds of asylum seekers staying in the Pournara reception centre protested on Monday over delays in their application process and what they described as the inhumane living conditions in the camp.

According to photo and video material released by migrant support Ngo Kisa, detainees participated in the peaceful demonstration holding banners in different languages and shouting “freedom” early in the afternoon.

Citing the protestors, Kisa wrote “their only demand is to give them freedom as they already applied for asylum and completed their quarantine period.”

The reception centre in Kokkinotrimithia, designed to host asylum seekers for a maximum of 72 hours until health checks are carried out, has the capacity to host about 1,000 people.

The camp is currently overcrowded, including minors.

Children’s rights commissioner Despo Michaelidou said last week that putting migrant reception centres in lockdown is a violation of migrant children’s basic human rights and liberties. She reiterated these children have been deprived of the right to physical attendance at school since mid-November.