Citation

Esmaili BE. Pediatrics 2018; 142(3): ePub.

Affiliation

Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health, Duke University and Lincoln Community Health Center, Durham, North Carolina bee6@duke.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, American Academy of Pediatrics)

DOI

10.1542/peds.2018-1470

PMID

30068714

Abstract

On the Greek island of Leros, newly arriving families from Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and beyond are routinely received at the landing dock and escorted into barbed wire–lined refugee camps. Many ask if they are being taken to prison. Inside these barrack-like camps, residents are assigned an Isobox, or converted shipping container, in which to live. Although these metal units are certainly sturdier and safer than tents or huts made from tarpaulin and bamboo, they are far from anything that resembles a home. However, because most refugees are held in these camps (or “registration centers”) for months to years while their asylum papers are processed, these containers become obligatory homes of sorts. As several camp staff explained to me, many prefer to call them “caravans,” recognizing the inappropriateness of housing any human in something called a container.

Nearly 40% of those living in such containers are children, with >2200 arriving unaccompanied each year according to recent statistics from the Greek Council for Refugees. These children do not attend school. They must line up in long queues to see the doctor and in longer queues to receive daily rations ...

Language: en