Greece
Throughout the year 2024, Médecins Sans Frontières offered a range of support services to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers subjected to restrictive and inhumane migration practices in Greece.
Our activities in 2024 —
outpatient consultations
individual mental health consultations
consultations for contraceptive services
people treated for sexual violence
Sea arrivals increased by 31 per cent compared to 2023, overwhelming poorly managed reception centres. On Samos, where over 10,000 refugees arrived in 2024, the Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) remained severely overcrowded, with limited access to basic services. Ineffective public health policies led to the spread of diseases such as scabies and gastrointestinal infections, compounding the suffering of the people held there. We ran mobile units inside the CCAC, as well as a day centre in Vathi, to provide people with essential medical care.
Arrivals on Lesbos fluctuated during the year, but still accounted for 20 per cent of the overall annual number. MSF provided multidisciplinary services, comprising basic healthcare, mental health and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive healthcare, and health promotion activities, as well as referrals for legal services, in Mavrovouni CCAC. We also coordinated a scabies campaign in the summer
In 2024, the Dodecanese islands were the first entry point into Greece for 36 per cent of sea arrivals. Between August and December, MSF ran mobile units on Kos, delivering the same multidisciplinary support in both the CCAC and the public hospital in Kos city.
In Athens, our teams continued providing medical services for people on the move in the city and in three nearby camps. In September, we started to scale down this project by transferring our noncommunicable diseases activities to the National Health System and Médecins du Monde.
MSF also responded to shipwrecks off Samos, Lesbos, and Kos, offering medical and psychological care to survivors and families of victims. On Rhodes, MSF supplied hygiene kits, beds, and blankets to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers awaiting transfer to official facilities.
Throughout the year, we continued our advocacy efforts, calling for humane responses to migration, including improved access to healthcare and dignified reception conditions.