Hundreds of Palestinian refugees sheltered in Nea Kavala camp, north of Greece, have raised alarm bells over their abject humanitarian situation in the isolated migrant facility, describing it as “an open-air prison”.

The nearest city to the camp—Polykastro—is at least one hour away on foot.

The refugees slammed the Greek authorities for dragging their feet over their appeals for family reunification. Often, procedures take years to be finalized.

Over recent months, the Greek government has come under heavy criticism over the separation walls built around the mainland refugee camp near Athens.

Some residents of the camp being walled off described a heightened sense of imprisonment.

Nea Kavala camp was built in the former “Asimakopoulou” air force camp. It opened its gates on 28 February 2016 and together with Cherso were the two mass tent camps established to host the thousands of refugees evacuated from Idomeni. Nea Kavala camp is characteristically hosting many different nationalities.

The camp is located at the rims of Nea Kavala village next to a small countryside road and is 56 km away from Thessaloniki. The nearest town is Polykastro and it takes a refugee living in the camp between 30 and 40 minutes to reach it on foot. A return bus ticket from Polykastro to Thessaloniki costs 12 Euros.

The Greek Army and RIS are responsible for site management. Police is guarding the entrance.

At the end of August 2018, the population consisted of new arrivals from the Aegean hotspots and the land borders as well as people who had been living in the camp for nearly two years.

Refugees interviewed said that they experienced lack of safety and spoke about tensions among the camp’s residents, unequal shelter conditions, and a breakdown of community structures. Residents described the fear they felt about walking in the camp when it was dark. Electricity cuts were creating additional problems regarding the safety of residents during the night. Women refugees were scared to walk alone to the toilets and single women feared staying alone in the rub-halls with too many men. All residents were anxious about leaving their prefabs unprotected.