13 COVID-19 lockdowns as opportunities to ramp 2. The "Vial Hotspot" on Chios up such illegal practices into a systematic and Chios is home to one of the five Greek “EU coordinated effort. Professor Francois Cré- Hotspots”, Vial. Vial serves as a camp for asylum peau—the former United Nations special rap- seekers and a Reception and Identification Cen- porteur on the human rights of migrants— tre (RIC) located eight kilometers from the city explained that “they’ve seized the moment...the of Chios. The center is located in a decommis- coronavirus has provided a window of oppor- sioned aluminium factory and is still partly tunity to close national borders to whoever used as a waste separation and recycling facility. they’ve wanted.” He added that the pushbacks, Vial was designed to accommodate around which are entirely illegal under international 1,000 people. However, at present, about 594 and EU law, amount to a “human rights and hu- people reside in the camp, living in lightly se- manitarian disaster” 15 But those who wish to cured containers. That number is drastically seek international protection in Greece have no lower than the one from November 2020–when choice but to face the risks of pushbacks as there quarantine began–when thousands of people are no other legal ways of accessing the Greek were living in the Chios RIC,17 and is the result of territory, nor does Greece issue visas for human- a renewed effort by Greek authorities to reduce itarian reasons. the number of people on the Aegean islands – as COVID-19 has only added to Greece’s harsh border policies. Greek authorities have used mentioned above. Asylum seekers are given acThe brutality of pushbacks is obvious as, in a recent shocking incident, a woman seeking international protection on Chios died in the wilderness rather than reveal her location for rescue as she was afraid of being pushed-back to Türkiye.16 commodation in Vial after their registration as applicants for international protection as long as their asylum procedure is still ongoing. The conditions in the RIC have been criticized for years.18 As of this writing there is only one doctor available for registration who is responsible for a first check-up upon arrival to the RIC. According to the experience the researchers made, this doctor is not present at all time, but only temporarily to conduct the first screening. Aegean Sea, 12 February 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3E8ryNv; Forensic Architecture, Greece, available at: https://bit.ly/3E8FOps; European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), Final report, Case No OC/2021/0451/A1, available at: https://bit.ly/3YNlRMP. 15 The New York Times, Taking Hard Line, Greece Turns Back Migrants by Abandoning Them at Sea, 14 August 2020, available athttps://nyti.ms/3Yu0gJP. 16 Rasist Crime Watch, The tragic story of a Somali refugee woman who died of starvation and dehydration on Chios, 12 July 2022, available at: https://racistcrimeswatch.wordpress.com/2022/07/12/1-1352/. 17 Equal Rights Beyond Borders, 'Abandoned and Neglected' - The Failure to Prepare for a COVID-19 Outbreak in the Vial Refugee Camp, November 2020 Update, available at: https://bit.ly/3xoAAT0. 18 Equal Rights Beyond Borders, Consequences of the EU-Turkey-Statement, July 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3RUCT9P and The lived reality of deterrence measures, Inhuman camps at Europe’s external borders, December 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/3ImUunu; The Guardian, ‘A scene out of the middle ages’: Dead refugee found surrounded by rats at Greek camp, 7 May 2021, available athttps://bit.ly/3E60WwH. ‘Quarantine of Asylum Seeker’ – A legal classification of the quarantine practice on Chios