EU migration policies drive health crisis on Greek islands.

Abstract

Restrictive migration policies that deny migrants and asylum seekers their right to health—a fundamental right enshrined in universal human rights declarations and treaties since 1948—are increasingly prevalent globally. They are the result of the so-called migration crisis that is a politically made humanitarian crisis. States are criminalising people who are in some of the most vulnerable situations, often also denying their right to seek asylum and right to health. Such policies are particularly apparent in situations of indefinite containment, such as on the Greek Islands (Chios, Kos, Leros, Lesvos, and Samos), where people are contained in EU-supported hotspot facilities in overcrowded, unhealthy, and undignified conditions.