On Sunday the 22nd of January 2017 some of us, from the assembly of the demolished Orfanotrofio Squat and other comrades, visited three camps outside Thessaloniki. Those at Softex, Diavata and Kalochori.
For a week now at *Kalochori*, the tents have been covered with *naked layers of mineral wool* boards (and the same is true of Oreokastro camp), that have been proved extremely dangerous and even carcinogenic, depending on their construction. Technicians using this kind of material ought to wear special gloves, protection goggles and masks so as not to inhale its fine fibers. However, at Kalochori, children are playing there uninhibited and whoever is staying in those tents is freely taking in the fibers through the “windows” they have slashed open in their tents (s. photos).
The “authorities” have decided to leave older tents and old clothes full of lice, ticks and dust-mites piling up just outside warehouse, creating an interesting –and dangerous- playground for the kids. Also, the electricity panels are lying around unprotected and directly accessible to anyone: A terrible hazard, especially for children.
In *Diavata* there are two generations of installations for the residents. Tin plate and chipboard «extensions» have been added to the older ones, while the new ones have been transferred here from various places (many still bear the stickers: MEDICAL CENTRE, UNHCR etc). There is no toilet inside, and wherever there is one, it is not connected to a sewage system (s. photo). Most people cook on naked fires and very few have proper cooking facilities.
At *Softex*, there are still people staying in the tents, inside the factory warehouse. The tents are not outside anymore and instead there are containers that have been assembled here from various other places – one of the containers still advertises agrarian plots. Inside the factory and around the containers, power connections are unbelievable (s. photograph with naked wiring and connection on the mud). The signification of gender for the toilets is also noteworthy: It must have been designed by a cop hired for sketching the profiles of wanted criminals (s. photos).
It is obvious that there is no intention neither to close down, nor to renovate these facilities. They remain and will remain prisons. They are militarized spaces with fences and metal bars, run by the cops and the military. Migrants in there are fully isolated, packed away from the
voices, the sounds, the rhythm of life in the city.
- THE STATE AND NGOs ARE TRADING IN HUMANITARIANISM WHILE SLOWLY EXTERMINATING MIGRANTS
- WE WILL FIGHT UNTIL THE CLOSING DOWN OF EVERY DETENTION PLACE AND GHETTO
- WE WANT MIGRANTS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
People from the Assembly of the Demolished Orfanotrofio Squat
* All photos mentioned above can be found here, in the greek version of this text, published in Athens Indymedia