May 2019 | Reception crisis in Northern Greece: three years of emergency solutions arrivals – mainly families. Every prefab has two rooms, but only one air condition in the corridor and one bathroom. Many prefabs are shared between two families. In the past three years, a number of protests linked to poor living conditions took place.lii liii Fights between refugees were also reported.liv lv In April 2019, the camp attracted wide international media coverage when riot police fired tear gas to hundreds of refugees who had set up an informal camp outside Diavata. The refugees hoped to revive the Balkans route, cross the borders with Northern Macedonia and then reach other EU countries.lvi Those interviewed spoke about the recurring problem of overcrowding, difficult living conditions and lack of security including tensions arising between residents as a result of the different types of housing they are offered. Female interviewees said that they preferred to stay inside their prefabs with their children because they felt unsafe. One refugee reported he had been subjected to racist attacks on his way to the bus and his wife to harassment. “Here in the camp, we do not feel safe. We are permanently stressed. I don’t remember any time to be relaxed here. There are fights. One time during a big fight, we Afghan men had to bring all our children and women into the prefabs and lock them inside to protect them. There were men with knives and big woods. The police didn’t do anything. We had to stay in front of the houses to protect our families. Even I had to be ready to fight. You see: we escaped from war just to be in danger in Europe.” Hassan M.* (58)lvii from Afghanistan, Diavata camp. He lives in the camp with his wife Nouria M.* (53) and their 17-year-old son. Residents with serious health problems described having to wait in long queues in front of the medical services in order to receiving simple medicines such as painkillers. Lack of interpreters to accompany refugees to hospitals was also another cause of worry for those suffering with health problems. For those already recognized, the lack of prospects and absence of regular language lessons in the camp dashed their hopes for a better future. “I don’t see a future. … I can only give up. My days in the camp pass by without any change of my situation. During the day, I sit on a chair in front of the isobox and at night I try for hours to fall asleep. There are no lessons now, no measures to make a living, nothing.” Behruz K.* (22)lviii from Afghanistan, victim of torture and recognized refugee, Diavata camp https://rsaegean.org/en/reception-crisis-in-northern-greece-three-years-of-emergency-solutions 12