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STORY: GREECE / REFUGEE CHILDREN WINTER
TRT: 01:44
SOURCE: UNICEF
LANGUAGE: NATS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
DATELINE: 18 JANUARY 2017, THESSALONIKI, GREECE
1. Med shot, family carrying food in boxes on baby stroller
2. Med shot, mother and son covered in plastic bags carrying food on baby stroller
3. Close up, children struggling with plastic bags full of food supplies under heavy rain
4. Med shot, families waiting in line in front of container for food supplies
5. Med shot, children walking in freezing rain in front of UNHCR tents
6. Close up, sign with ‘Softex” refugee camp name in windy and rainy conditions
7. Wide shot, mother and son walking away with food supplies on baby stroller
8. Close up, families behind wire fence picking up food supplies
9. Close up, socks hanging to dry behind wire fence in freezing rain
10. Med shot, family carrying food in boxes on baby stroller
Hundreds of refugee families are suffering in dire conditions in numerous refugee camps in north Greece. Snow and freezing rain make conditions unhealthy and unbearable for children of all ages.
With no sign of a let-up in the extreme cold weather and storms sweeping Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, refugee and migrant children risk falling sick from respiratory and other serious illnesses and even death from hypothermia, UNICEF said today (20 Jan).
In Greece and the Balkans, an estimated 23,700 refugee and migrant children - including infants and new-borns mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan – remain stranded. Many are being housed in shelters that are ill-equipped for winter, even as temperatures fall below zero.
Some parts of Greece, especially the islands where thousands of refugees are sheltering in flimsy tents, have experienced heavy snowfall for the first time in years. UNICEF continues to call for refugees and migrants currently living in overcrowded and underserviced camps on the islands to be moved to more appropriate and safe accommodations on the mainland.
Overcrowding and poor insulation make the shelters particularly unhealthy, and allow respiratory diseases to spread quickly when cold weather hits. According to the WHO, the seasonal influenza season started is now underway in Europe.
Ongoing winterization efforts throughout the Balkans, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, are helping women and children stay warm.
In Bulgaria UNICEF has supported 500 children in reception centres with a full set of winter clothes in January. Since late 2015-2016 child and family support hubs, child-friendly spaces and mother and baby corners were transformed from the initial light structures to winterized and heated pre-fab and container structures, or have since moved into hard/permanent structures.
UNICEF is also distributing winter clothing and other essential items for women and children, using mobile teams in some places. In Greece UNICEF is active in 12 heated sites for education and child protection services.
