Leaving Syria, Ayham’s family fled to Turkey and then to Greece. They now live in Schistos. But their asylum application has been rejected and the future looks uncertain. The wall, entrance gate and barbed wire fences of the former camp stand out in the middle of the barren landscape. Where, just half an hour’s drive from the urban center of Athens, is today the Schistos refugee camp.

Early in the morning the mercury has risen above 30 degrees Celsius and a warm, dry wind is blowing weakly. Defying the heat, a five-year-old boy runs barefoot on the gravel and stares at a group of firefighters doing a safety drill.

Today, 193 children, from newborns to 17 years old, live in Schistos together with their families. Most have come from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq. There are no longer any unaccompanied minors in the structure. In the Greek refugee structures, there used to be so-called “safe zones” for the accommodation of children without families. However, due to the special needs of unaccompanied minors, they are currently accommodated in separate camps.

“We traveled for three days”

Eiham Albachs, 11, has been living in Schisto for seven months with his younger sister, 8-year-old Lynn, and his parents.

Leaving Syria, Ayham’s family fled to Turkey and lived for eight years in Mersin, on the Turkish shores of the Mediterranean. In 2023 they came to Kos and after a month to Schistos. “We were traveling for three days, I know that,” says Eiham. However, he does not remember any other details about their trip to Greece.

Bad experiences in Turkey

“What we experienced in Turkey was bad. It’s scary when your kids come home from school and tell you they were attacked. Turkey is not a safe country,” says Alaa Alkhatab (34), Ayham’s mother.

She feels safer in Greece, the Schistos workers treated her and her family well. However they can’t really help. The family’s asylum application was rejected twice. Alkhatab doesn’t know what’s coming next – all they can do at this point is wait. What is certain is that he does not want to return to Syria under any circumstances. “I want the best for my children, hope is all I have right now.”

Many want to continue to Canada, Great Britain or Germany. The children in Schistos know from their parents that Greece is essentially a stopover – but it is unknown how long they will have to stay in the country.

Children’s everyday questions

Each family in Schisto lives in their own container, which consists of two separate bedrooms with single beds and bunk beds, a kitchen with electric stoves, a refrigerator and a bathroom, while there is additional hot water and air conditioning. In addition to these containers, there is also a special building for people with disabilities, which also has a ramp.

Since the summer holidays have started and the children are out of school, they spend most of their time in the air-conditioned containers. Only in the afternoon, when the heat becomes somewhat more bearable, do they go outside to play in the structure’s playground and small soccer field. Of course, what Eiham and Lynn like most of all are the trips to various events outside the camp.

Alaa Alkhatab recently accompanied her children on an excursion during the Refugee Week, in the center of Athens. Together with the rest of the children who were there, the two brothers drew a cardboard house as part of an interactive workshop on the theme of “my house”. “The hardest thing for me is my children’s almost daily questions about when we will finally go to our own house,” says Alkhatab.

Preparing for life “outside”

Most children can already communicate in Greek, many also speak English. The children who have to attend school lessons are all enrolled in Greek schools. But there are also some who do not go to school. “We cannot and do not want to force these children and their parents to go to school,” says Thomas Papakonstantinou, director of the Schistos structure.

Papaconstantinou has been managing the camp since 2020. He does not consider that his job is only to take care of the housing and medical treatment of the refugees, but that he must primarily try to constantly and in various ways improve life in the structure.

Papaconstantinou and his team focus particularly on giving different stimuli to the children, as well as offering them the possibility to participate in activities outside of Schistos. That is why they often organize trips to sporting and artistic events. Just a month ago Eiham and Lynn were at the UEFA Conference League Final and the Olympic Flame Touching Ceremony ahead of the 2024 Olympics.

Eiham brings a volleyball from his container and talks excitedly about his visit to the Conference League final. 12 children from Schistos – among them Eiham and Lin – accompanied the Olympiakos players when they entered the stadium. 13-year-old Hussein even gave the referee the match ball. “For a week after the final the kids were still wearing the looks from the game,” a worker at the structure tells us.

“I accompanied the player who scored the goal!”, Eiham proudly recounts. Of course, he doesn’t want to be a football player, but a doctor or a pilot. Lynn also loves soccer, just like her brother. When she grows up, she would like to be a pediatrician.

Edited by: Giorgos Passas