Ahmed, Katsikas camp Ahmed (not real name) is a 24 year old Yemeni man who has been living in Katsikas camp for eight months, having been transferred from Samos CCAC where he lived for two months. He received his refugee status and is waiting for his travel documents so he can leave Greece. “I received cash assistance for just one month before I got my positive decision. I take one meal per day from the camp but every time they tell me I’m now allowed to take meals, because I don’t have an asylum seeker card anymore. Sometimes I survive by asking people to bring me something. The heater [in my container] wasn’t working in the winter, I asked the camp management to fix it. Now in the warm, it’s very crazy inside the containers, but when we ask them to fix it they say: ‘we’re going to chuck you out, because you don’t have an ID, and you’re not allowed to stay here.’ A friend of mine was kicked out of the camp after travelling to Athens and staying there for more than 15 days to find work. When he came back they didn’t let him back in and he had to sleep outside the camp. I was sharing my food with him. There is security in the doors. They don’t check like drugs or if you have a cough or something dangerous, they focus only on people, if you are a recognised refugee you are not allowed to enter there. There is no security like about weapons, drugs, how to be safe, security is about not letting refugees get inside the camp.” Ali and Farida, Oinofyta camp Ali and Farida (not real names) are a married couple in Oinofyta camp from Iraqi Kurdistan with two daughters aged 8 and 9. They had been in camp accommodation in Oinofyta and Malakasa for three years at the time of interview and were in the process of submitting a subsequent application for asylum after receiving a rejection. The family previously lived in housing provided under the ESTIA programme. Ali: “There is a psychologist here but the problem is we cannot communicate. I have tried to book an appointment with her but we cannot communicate because there are no interpreters. And I have documents that I want to show a psychologist but no interpreters.” Farida: “It’s extremely difficult for my children because of the living conditions, also the type of people that we live with in the camp, it’s a mixture of single people and families. My children go to school but at the same time, they live in the camp which is extremely difficult. I can’t even let my children go to the toilet alone, I have to accompany them. 44