On 8 December 2020, Human Rights Watch published a report urging Greek authorities to investigate concerns that Mavrovouni refugee camp (also known as new Kara Tepe) may be contaminated with lead. Mavrovouni, on the island of Lesbos, was a military firing range from 1926 until its September conversion to a residential camp. Human Rights Watch also reports that authorities failed to remove “unexploded mortar projectiles and live small arms ammunition, which could injure or kill if disturbed or handled.”
The camp hosts more than 7,500 people, primarily from Syria and Afghanistan. It was born out of the demise of Moria camp. Moria was Europe’s largest camp before it was destroyed in September 2020 fires. The fires followed months of “hell”– extreme overcrowding, lack of sanitation (more than 100 people sharing one toilet), and violence. Six former Moria residents face prosecution for arson. More than 12,700 people were living in Moria, which was at more than four times its capacity.
People who ended up in Moria because they were displaced from their home countries have been doubly displaced by the fires. As non-Europeans who fled violence and hardship, primarily from countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, Mavrovouni residents find themselves in Europe as a minority community of colour facing disproportionate toxic exposure risks. This environmental racism is exacerbated by COVID-19, as hundreds in the camp have already tested positive.
