Members of NGO Team Humanity shares handmade protective face masks to migrants and refugees in the camp of Moria in the island of Lesbos on March 28, 2020 as the country is under lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, rights groups are calling on European governments to act before it is too late. In Greece, refugees are being diagnosed with Covid-19. They are quarantined, but in overcrowded unhygienic conditions.

For those who fled their war and hunger hoping to find sanctuary in Europe, Covid-19 is just another thing that might take their lives along the way. The World health Organization insists physical distancing and a lot of testing continue to be the best way to fight the spread of the virus. So overcrowded detention centers with shared facilities and inadequate health care at the best of times, are a nightmare waiting to happen. Medics without Frontiers says all the medical care here is provided by NGOs and volunteer doctors and those who are suffering are often children.

Human rights watch is calling on Greece to release hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children in police cells and detention centers. Aside from the abuse and unhygienic conditions, they are now in danger of contracting Covid-19. Various European nations have agreed to take in 2000 children, but as for the UK, even unaccompanied children who have permission to join family in the UK, are being refused assistance.

Home Secretary Priti Patel responded to a plea by Doctors Without Borders saying the UK would continue to support the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal. The NGO has described the response as shameful arguing that the deal is essentially a containment policy.

Meanwhile Greek forces are on heightened alert. Reports state Turkey is preparing to push a fresh wave of migrants towards Europe. More than 6,000 European doctors have signed the appeal calling on EU governments to bring refugees safety. What they need are the basics. A regular supply of water and soap to wash their hands, and the luxury of sleeping 2 meters apart. In the absence of these a chronic emergency is imminent.

SOURCE: PRESS TV