Refugee babies exposed to filth, infections at camp

Idomeni, March 9 

Six-day-old Asima lies on her back a few metres away from a line of public toilets used by crowds of refugees and migrants stranded at a muddy border outpost in northern Greece.

She is one of the youngest of thousands of children trapped in what aid workers say is a petri dish of filth and festering infections, as European leaders work out what to do with the growing masses fleeing conflict zones and heading to Europe.

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says there are at least 40 pregnant women in Idomeni camp on the Macedonian border, and 40% of its population are children. “There are many babies at the camp, and they are vulnerable to respiratory infections,” said Christian Reynders, deputy coordinator for MSF at Idomeni.

“Refugees set fires at night to keep their families warm. They burn everything, wood, plastic bags, old clothes. The smoke is toxic and we are afraid that respiratory infection especially for newborn babies might create permanent problems to their breathing system,” he added.

MSF doctors see about 60 children a day suffering from the results of the humidity and smoke. By the latest count, there were about 36,000 refugees stranded in Greece, their plans to travel further north blocked by border shutdowns throughout the Balkans. — Reuters