#vathy

As mentioned in the “Reading the Hermetica” post introducing the Armenian Definitions of Hermēs Trismegistos to Asklēpios (DH), I referred to the excellent commentary by fvathynevgl (aka Vathy, website here).  They went through the DH texts in a series of old Twitter threads spanning from August 2021 through September 2022, and for the sake of archiving and sharing their public commentary from a…

Fifteen minutes outside the town of Vathy stands a just-completed compound, surrounded by a double barbed-wire fence.

The entrance, only open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., is equipped with turnstiles, magnetic gates and X-ray machines. Guards check both ID cards and fingerprints for those coming in.

The facility is the first EU-designed, EU-funded migrant camp in Greece — the start of a €276 million response to the overflowing, substandard tent cities that sprung up on Greece’s Aegean islands in 2015 as Syrians fled a civil war.

Essentially, it’s what the EU envisions as the future of processing migrants who land on Greek shores, including Afghans who might arrive seeking escape from the Taliban. In addition to the Samos facility, the EU is funding similar camps on the islands of Leros, Lesbos, Kos and Chios. It is meant to provide a higher standard of accommodation for asylum seekers, while also separating them from local communities, who have been protesting their presence for years.

“This is the first of a new generation of reception centers in the Aegean islands,” said Beate Gminder, who helps oversee migration management for the European Commission, as she unveiled the new facility on Saturday.

In many ways, the sprawling encampment is an unquestioned upgrade from the tent cities, which were often rife with rats and the smell of human waste and garbage.

The redesigned camp is organized into “neighborhoods,” each equipped with separate restaurants, sports facilities, playgrounds, shared kitchens and canteens. Toilets, running water, air conditioners and wi-fi are all major improvements. There is a separate area designed for unaccompanied minors, guarded by Greek police and a private security company 24 hours a day.

“The new closed, controlled-access center will give back the lost dignity to people seeking international protection, but also the necessary conditions of safeguarding and restraint for illegal migrants who are to be returned,” Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said Saturday at the camp’s opening ceremony.

Greece, 2021

Greece, 2021

Greece, 2021