Water –ever cold and non-drinkable– was only available for a couple of hours per day.98
As a result, beneficiaries were provided with daily rations of bottled water, as a means
to counterbalance this gap. Each, however, was only entitled to a 1.5 liters bottle, which
was evidently inadequate to cover their needs, let alone the needs of more vulnerable
asylum seekers, whose conditions (e.g. diabetes) necessitate a constant source of hydration.
Food was provided. Food ratios, however, were inadequate to cover beneficiaries’ basic
needs, as despite the surge in arrivals since the summer of 2017, food quantities had
reportedly remained the same, thus not reflecting increased needs.99
In terms of materials scarcity, the same was the case with winter clothing, with many
beneficiaries wearing worn-out jackets and shoes (if they had any), and at times summer
sandals, despite it being winter. Other crucial gaps we were informed of, regarded powder milk for newborns and babies, as well as sanitary napkins for women. While, lastly,
and amongst many others, a final and highly concerning gap concerned the facility’s
supervision.
The RIC is in principle divided into an external and an internal section.100 The first,
which was accessible through the RIC’s main gates, was the designated accommodation
section for the vast majority of beneficiaries, which, however, due to over-congestion
also housed (in tents and containers) a significant number of families with children,
which were running all around. Despite this, however, no security checks were actually
conducted at either of the RIC’s main gates, and anyone could freely enter and exit
without officials taking notice of their presence.101
The situation was slightly better in the RIC’s internal section, where personnel offices,
an area for the initial detention of newcomers, and 3 different wings for the accommodation of the most vulnerable (families, single women, UAM) were found. Notwithstanding the fact that said wings had security checks during the day, however, there
have been frequent reports on the unavailability of adequate night patrols and dimly lit
areas, 102 with some reporting a lack of security personnel after 16:00-17:00 at the UAM
and single women sections.103 If true, this meant that said sections, which were open
from 12:00-00:00, were largely left unguarded even during their open time.
Within this context, the ever degrading living conditions of Moria, coupled with peoples’ de facto restriction within and around its premises, have consistently created a
state of insecurity, adversely affecting the most vulnerable.
“There is an environment of tension in Moria…there are people who cannot
sleep for even one night…they live in a constant insecurity…day-by-day
they become sicker��physically, mentally…”104
Drug selling, riots, interethnic, and interpersonal fights have become commonplace,
with one such fight occurring in broad daylight, during our second visit (15th of December 2017). The fight was amongst two women, one of which, a pregnant minor whom,
as per the employees that sped to resolve the fight, had some unknown suitor within the
RIC. Whether, in her case, the pregnancy was the result of willing consent, was something we could not verify. This, however, further highlights the constant SGBV risk to
which women are exposed within the RIC, not least due to the de facto unavailability
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