May 2019 | Reception crisis in Northern Greece: three years of emergency solutions inside the camp, but we are scared to go there or to let our children go there. The camp is very dark during the night. … I just tell you, I have daughters and we cannot go out of the container. There is a lot screaming and other scary noises. There are a lot of single men.” Fachnaz K.* (30)cix from Syria, Filippiada camp She escaped from Allepo with her husband Mezgid M.* (35) and their four children. They arrived from Diavata camp after crossing the land border. In September 2016, local parents protested about the enrolment of refugee children in the village school.cx As of September 2018 less than 60% of children living the camp attended formal education.cxi As of October 2018, there were no interpretation services available for the school and no vocational training for adults in the site.cxii 2.5.5 VAGHIOCHORI Vaghiochori temporary accommodation site (refugee camp) is an hour’s drive from Thessaloniki (50km) and in walking distance to a small village of 60 inhabitants with the same name. The camp is situated in the site of the former Vaghiochori primary school. The campcxiii opened as emergency accommodation site for refugees at the end of May 2016cxiv following the evacuation of Idomeni. This remote camp has been used mainly as a transit camp during the past three years. There is no supermarket and no kiosk within a 5km radius. It has been closed down twice (on 15 January 2017cxv and in October 2018cxvi) because of the poor conditions but is scheduled to re-open in May 2019 in order to host the refugees transferred from the islands or arriving from the land border.cxvii On 11 September 2018, the camp had a reported official capacity of 552 personscxviii and 348 residents. 42% of its residents were children. The camp consisted of 78 UNHCR tentscxixcxx. The Greek Army was managing the site and site management support was provided by IOM. The camp is situated more than 10km away from the next public health facility and hospital. Public transport is limited and before its second closure last October, the camp’s residents had to travel to Thessaloniki for hospital appointments or appointments with the Regional Asylum Office. The first refugees transferred to Vaghiochori in June 2016 protested and denied exiting the buses.cxxi During that year, it became camp of last resort and was used mainly to host those who were arriving from the land borders and had no other place to go. Its’ re-opening on 3 June 2018 marked a period where arrivals from the land border with Turkey had peaked, https://rsaegean.org/en/reception-crisis-in-northern-greece-three-years-of-emergency-solutions 19