Slogans on the wall of the Diavata refugee camp

The Diavata open reception facility for refugees (formerly Anagnostopoulos army camp) is located on the rural road which connects Diavata with Oraiokastro (Symmachiki Odos). It started operating in April 2016 for the purpose of hosting refugees trapped in Eidomeni after the EU-Turkey deal of March 20, 2016, and the closure of the borders along the so-called ‘Balkan route’. The camp has a capacity of 725 people, but between 2016 and 2021 it was constantly overcrowded, consistently hosting over 1,000 and even, at times, 2,500 people. In April 2021, the Ministry of Migration and Asylum in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) started erecting a 3-metre-high cement wall around the camp, replacing the previous chain link fence. The new wall prevents people from seeing inside the camp and imposes a feeling of imprisonment on the refugees hosted there. During the spring and summer of 2021, such walls were erected around four refugee camps/reception facilities (Diavata, Malakasa, Nea Kavala and Ritsona), with a view to expanding their construction to all 39 camps/reception facilities in Greece. The project has a budget of 28,4 million Euros.

According to a petition supported by 40 European organizations, ‘residents of refugee camps fled their country in search of safety. In Europe, their mental health is worsening because of the horrific conditions in the camps. Building the walls after a year of strict lockdown will lead to a further deterioration in their mental state. […] Democracy and freedom cannot be built with concrete walls. Building walls was always the beginning of dark periods in history.
Crushing walls is the source of hope, reconciliation and solidarity, the foundation of the European idea. No more walls in the EU!’

The photographs show slogans written on the walls of the camp by ally groups in solidarity with migrants in June 2021.