Open The Islands

Oxfam and GCR applaud Council of State for ending containment policy and condemn Greek Government’s attempts to defy Court’s ruling

24 April 2018

The Greek Council of State's lifting of movement restrictions on asylum seekers arriving on the Greek Islands confirms the unlawfulness of the containment policy and its inefficiency. Nonetheless, the government rushed to reinstate them.
13,000 still trapped on Greek islands

6 March 2018

As the two-year anniversary of the EU-Turkey deal nears on March 18, 2018, thousands of asylum seekers are trapped on the Aegean islands in deplorable conditions and without access to adequate protection and basic services, nine humans rights and humanitarian organisations including Oxfam said today.The Greek government should act immediately to end the containment policy that traps asylum seekers in these conditions on the islands and move them to safety on the mainland.
With winter here, thousands of people still trapped on Greek islands

21 December 2017

More than 13,500 refugees and other migrants remain trapped on the Greek islands in deplorable conditions as winter begins, a coalition of 13 NGOs including Oxfam said today. Oxfam calls on the Greek government and its EU partners to transfer immediately at least 5,500 asylum seekers from the squalid island camps to the Greek mainland.