Dear Colleagues,
I am a US lawyer of Afghan descent currently volunteering in Greece with the refugee population there. I work very closely with the Afghan-Greek population here, numbering about 300, who have had residency here for the past 15 years.
I recently became aware that for refugees who have died in Greece, either through natural causes or who had been murdered, the families of the refugees had to pay for all funeral and burial costs, totalling about 3.000 euros, which goes to the funeral home and the transportation of the body to a permanent Muslim burial space in northern Greece (the ones in Athens exhume the bodies after 3 years). Without paying these costs, the body is never released and laid to rest.
Most recently, this set up because particularly egregious for the burial costs of a 16-year old boy who was murdered at one of the camps. Please see the article here. http://www.tovima.gr/en/article/?aid=815974
I assisted the community here in writing a formal letter to UNHCR informing them of the additional financial burden these families have found themselves in and asked for a policy to be established in such situations moving forward. They have not yet responded.
If anyone has any insight on how I can help with this situation, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much
Shala Gafary
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