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

 
Greece

Kos: Offering psycho social support

Patient and Staff Stories 21 Sep 2015
 
Greece

Greece: “When the war is over, I want to return to my Syria”

Patient and Staff Stories 21 Sep 2015
 
Greece

Greece: "We had no other choice but to leave Syria"

Patient and Staff Stories 11 Sep 2015
 
Komotini Detention Centre, Northern Greece
Greece

MSF denounces Greek authorities’ decision to detain migrants indefinitely

Press Release 8 Apr 2014
 
Migrants Border Greece-Turkey
Greece

MSF: “Public health cannot be safeguarded through police-led health inspections and scaremongering"

Press Release 26 Apr 2012