Thousands of refugees at mercy of ‘freezing cold’ temperatures as winter grips Greek islands

‘There has been little running water and electricity for the past week’, one refugee tells Matt Mathers

Temperatures dropped to freezing in Lesbos and Chios last weekend (Refugee Biriyani & Bananas)

For the thousands of refugees and asylum seekers stranded in squalid camps across Greece, the new year has brought little hope or respite from the increasingly desperate conditions they face.

“There has been little running water and electricity for the past week,” Afram* an African man in his late 20s, tells The Independent. He has been marooned in the Vial Camp on the Aegean Island of Chios for over a year.

“We have to collect water from streams and without electricity, the situation is very bad”, Afram adds. Last weekend, temperatures on the island dropped to refrigerator levels, adding to the already dismal conditions there.