This report by Women’s Link Worldwide tells the stories of twelve women who fled the bombings and violence in Syria only to end up trapped in Piraeus, Greece, deprived of their most basic rights. The women talked about their lives, their fears, and their attempts to care for and protect their children under desperate conditions.
“What can I give my children now? I don’t have anything. That’s what worries me the most” confides a desperate Amal. “We are living in a jail here. I haven’t been able to get a check up to see if my baby is ok. I don’t care about myself anymore. My life is over. But I do care about what happens to my little boy. He’s barely a year and a half old. And I worry about what will happen to the baby I have on the way. I know I am going to give birth in this tent, but in what conditions?”
This factsheet was the basis of a complaint that Women’s Link filed with the European Ombudsman, denouncing the European Commission’s failure to protect the human rights of migrants and refugees attempting to enter or already within EU territory, specifically women and children. As a result of this complaint, the Ombudsman has opened an investigation into the European Commission.