Unprotected, unsupported, uncertain
Asylum seekers living at Moria, the reception and identification center on the Greek island of Lesvos, are under enormous mental strain. With no choice but to live in unacceptable conditions, with little concrete information about their futures and long waits to have their asylum claims heard, suicide rates among clients of the IRC mental health centre are astonishingly high: thirty percent of our clients have attempted suicide. Sixty percent have considered attempting suicide. Over the past six months, the IRC has been gathering the testimony of clients who attend our mental health centre in Mytilene, the capital of Lesvos. This brief outlines our findings and puts forward recommendations for the Greek local and central government, EU leaders and donors, to ensure that all asylum seekers at Moria in need of mental health services are able to access it and that living conditions do not trigger or exacerbate existing trauma.
