On the island of Lesbos a refugee camp has been set up for the massive influx of externally displaced persons from the middle east. The camp, named the Moria camp, has about 9,000 refugees which is about 3 times more than the capacity of the camp. The conditions of this camp-like many others-are horrendous. People are left to live in garbage and mud, with tons of violence breaking out. None of these refugees have been moved due to them being on an island and not having definitive ways to leave. However a huge issue on this island is teen suicide, the conditions on this islands are no place for children and teenagers to be. The hardships of going through war, escaping war torn countries, yet still being unwanted and turned away by so many countries is harrowing for these refugees. Especially for teens and children who are wildly unfit to cope with the hardship they’re enduring. These child patients are reported to be suffering elective mutism, panic attacks, anxiety, aggressive outbursts, and constant nightmares. These are all symptoms no child should have to endure, they’re symptoms of ptsd showing up in children. About a quarter of these children at the camp ages 6-18 have self harmed, attempted suicide or have considered suicide. This issue is completely neglected, people have chosen to forget or ignore this refugee crisis, a lot of it is due to xenophobia and lack of national interest. Greece accepting these immigrants is great, but can only last for so long before they have to go somewhere else however so much of Europe is completely anti-immigrant. Even if a country does accept immigration, such as Germany- that doesn’t completely mean the citizens are going to comply. It is the same fear that there will be less jobs and space for citizens and more focus on immigration and how refugees might be “dangerous”, but this is completely neglecting innocent people that have nowhere else to go. Many of the children are alone and have no one, the suicide rates have likely not only gone up because of the conditions they’re living in but also what they must live with- having no place to call home, not having a secure future, not knowing where they’ll have to go next and whether they’ll be discriminated and looked down upon based on their background. More programs of aid need to be set up for theses refugees because the rate of externally displaced people continues to grow higher and the conditions of the camps will only grow worse without help.
