OUR Municipality of Athens who owns the land Eleonas area, just two kilometers from the city center, asked the competent ministry to vacate the area before the end of the year. When the refugee crisis erupted in 2015, he provided – temporarily, as expressly stated in the treaty – enough acres of land to set up an asylum camp and resettle hundreds of people settled in Areos Square and Victoria Square. Now, however, other priorities have come to the fore when planning the development of the district.

For its part, the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum has pledged to relocate all residents and blockade Eleonas until the end of the year. The famous refugee and migrant camp has been operating continuously since 2015, and has been inhabited by people of different nationalities and in different conditions over time. This is the starting point for those who have passed, especially for those who have remained. Closing it, despite the fact that there are now many empty places in other camps, is proving to be a difficult task. The reason is simple. When you live in a house for 2-3, or even 7 years – for some – it is difficult to leave it to no one knows where, even if it is a simple container.

670 people left

Thousands of people passed through Eleonada. Initially, it was a structure designed to accommodate up to 700 residents in good conditions. It arrived with many additional containers to accommodate 1,500 asylum seekers, while in 2020, when many people were transferred from the islands as part of the KYT (reception and identification centers) offloading process on the islands, it ended up with 2,500 people in tents. and makeshift shacks. Today, the majority of residents are Africans, mostly families with children, but also “vulnerable”, that is, people in need of intensive care and treatment. About 670 people remained, of which 150 were recognized as refugees. About 200-300 people who were denied asylum have also found accommodation on Eleonas. These people are undocumented and therefore cannot work legally and have no access to health care. They are invisible, but they are trying to find a way to survive. At the main entrance to the camp, which is guarded by a private security company, the tools of their work are parked: carts with recyclables and metal objects.

OUR “K” found in Eleonas’ campwhere the days are quiet – there are always small fights – as the few workers in the structure now emphasize, except when they try to remove some.

During yesterday’s attempt to smuggle 21 immigrants into Schistos, there were reactions and minor incidents that ended with the intervention of the UAF forces.

Evacuation

A Ministry of Immigration and Asylum bus pulled up to the camp early yesterday morning to pick up 21 people for transport to the Schistos camp as part of the Eleonas evacuation operation. At the same time, a group of African women blocked the entrance to the camp with rubbish bins and then began to forcefully beat them with a deafening noise in an attempt to prevent the people who were to be transported from getting on the bus. Shortly thereafter, UAF forces intervened, throwing stun grenades to open the entrance, leading to panic and minor incidents.

During the day, “normality” returns. A load of laundry is inflated on a rope connecting two containers. Two kids play hide and seek with a leaf. Half of the residents are children. Some were born in the camp, Eleonas is the only home they know. “Some gave birth to their children here, who now go to school. A 13-year-old girl transferred to Shisto a few months ago returned alone. He said, “I want to go to my school with the people I know.” On the other hand, it is clear that the camp, in the form in which it was, has completed its cycle,” says the commander of the facility, Dimitris Georgiadis, as he “guided” us around the site. Having visited Eleonas many times over the years, he really seems more deserted than ever.

there are housewives

The bright colors used to paint the containers were chosen by the residents themselves as part of a program implemented during the heyday of Eleonas. Then it had a kindergarten, a playground, shared kitchens, a doctor’s office and social services. The camp is very well maintained in many places, it is almost possible to distinguish quarters with different aesthetics. “So it is,” Mr. Georgiadis assures me. “In all circumstances, there are householders, and there are those who create problems.”