Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has reported the first cases of acute child malnutrition in the Zervos migrant camp on the Greek island of Samos, prompting fresh concerns over conditions at the facility.
According to Al Jazeera, MSF doctors diagnosed six children from Syria and Afghanistan — aged between six months and six years — with acute malnutrition requiring immediate medical attention.
Though MSF could not conclusively link the children’s condition to life in the camp, it warned that poor nutrition and limited healthcare posed serious risks to vulnerable residents.
“No child should suffer from malnutrition due to systemic neglect,” Christina Psarra, director general of MSF Greece, said. She stressed that children account for roughly a quarter of the camp’s population.
Greece’s Ministry of Migration and Asylum rejected the suggestion of a wider issue, claiming the cases were isolated.
“Under no circumstances is there generalised malnutrition due to living conditions,” the ministry stated, noting that asylum seekers are provided with three meals a day.
The Samos facility, which opened in 2021 with EU funding, was intended to replace the overcrowded and unsanitary Vathy camp. Surrounded by barbed wire and operating as a high-security centre, it has been heavily criticised in the past.
Amnesty International previously described conditions there as “inhumane and degrading”, citing issues such as water shortages and lack of essential services during peak overcrowding.
MSF has urged both Greek authorities and the European Union to take swift action, including restoring financial support for asylum seekers — which was cut off in June — and providing appropriate paediatric care and nutrition services.
Greece remains a key entry point for migrants arriving in Europe. In 2024, nearly one-third of those travelling from the Middle East and Africa to southern Europe landed in the country, according to the United Nations.
Source: Al Jazeera
