MSF, Doctors Without Borders, MSF activities in Greece
In 2024, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) provided sexual and reproductive healthcare to migrants in Athens.

Sea arrivals surged by 31 per cent compared to 2023, placing immense pressure on already poorly managed reception centres.

On the island of Samos alone, more than 10,000 refugees arrived in 2024, leaving the Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) severely overcrowded and with only limited access to essential services. 

Our activities in 2024 in Greece

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2024.

MSF IN GREECE IN 2024 Throughout 2024, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) offered a range of support services to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers subjected to restrictive and inhumane migration practices in Greece.
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, MSF activities in Greece

Ineffective public health policies led to the spread of diseases such as scabies and gastrointestinal infections, compounding the suffering of the people held there. In response, MSF ran mobile units inside the CCAC, as well as a day centre in Vathi, to provide people with essential medical care.

Arrivals on Lesbos fluctuated during the year, but still accounted for 20 per cent of the overall annual number. MSF provided multidisciplinary services, comprising basic healthcare, mental health and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive healthcare, and health promotion activities, as well as referrals for legal services, in Mavrovouni CCAC. We also coordinated a scabies campaign in the summer.

In 2024, the Dodecanese islands were the first entry point into Greece for 36 per cent of sea arrivals. Between August and December, MSF ran mobile units on Kos, delivering the same multidisciplinary support in both the CCAC and the public hospital in Kos city.

In Athens, our teams continued providing medical services for people on the move in the city and in three nearby camps. In September, we started to scale down this project by transferring our non-communicable diseases activities to the National Health System and Médecins du Monde.

MSF also responded to shipwrecks off Samos, Lesbos and Kos, offering medical and psychological care to survivors and families of victims. On Rhodes, MSF supplied hygiene kits, beds, and blankets to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers awaiting transfer to official facilities.

Throughout the year, we continued our advocacy efforts, calling for humane responses to migration, including improved access to healthcare and dignified reception conditions.

IN 2024

 
Mental Health

A disastrous policy: vulnerable people trapped on the Greek islands pay the price of inhumane policies of the EU-Turkey deal

Press Release 5 Sep 2019
 
Pneumonia

Greece: MSF vaccinates refugee children against pneumonia

Press Release 15 Apr 2019
 
Greece

Greece: Increasing suicide attempts and self-harming among child refugees trapped in Moria camp, Lesvos

Press Release 18 Sep 2018
 
Greece

Greek islands: Families on the brink of a humanitarian emergency

Press Release 6 Dec 2017
 
Mental Health

EU Border polices fuel mental health crisis for asylum seekers

Press Release 11 Oct 2017
 
Mental Health

“I am shocked by Europe"

Fieldworkers Stories 11 Oct 2017