Under Standard 8 of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) Guidance on Reception Conditions: Operational Standards and Indicators, residents should have access to sufficient, adequate and functioning sanitary infrastructure. This includes ‘a sink with hot and cold water’ (8.1) ‘at least one functioning shower or bath with hot and cold water per 12 applicants, which is accessible for a minimum of 8 hours/day’ (8.3), and that at least one functioning sink with hot and cold water per 10 applicants is accessible 24/7 (8.4).
Despite this, there remains a critical lack of hot water within the camp, exacerbating poor living conditions for displaced individuals and asylum seekers. The Mavrovouni refugee camp is located just 7km from the city of Mytilene and has been successfully integrated into the municipal water and electricity grids, theoretically allowing for access to hot water — however, in practice, this is rarely readily available, especially when the camp is at high capacity. Additionally, the camp is situated on the coast, leaving it virtually unprotected from the winds, meaning the temperature can feel far colder than it is. In fact, last week the temperature reached a low of 4°C, with strong wind chill making it feel to -2°C. These conditions make hot water a necessity, not a luxury.
Firstly, contagious skin conditions such as scabies, are predictably common for residents in these conditions. Crowded living conditions and sharing of blankets and clothes exacerbate the likelihood of contracting preventable skin conditions, such as scabies. As the population of the camp grows, scabies campaigns and prevention steps are key to mitigating the risk.
Last September, in partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Euro-relief, Movement on the Ground and Boat Refugee Foundation, we took part in a successful scabies intervention campaign. We coordinated the WASH component, ensuring clothing, bedding and blankets were medically washed to remove any scabies. By working in tandem with MSF, who administered medication to those infected, and Euro-relief, who provided residents with new clothes whilst their old ones were being washed, we executed a successful cross-organisational scabies intervention. This hugely reduced the number of scabies cases in the screened population and allowed us to effectively identify and treat close contacts. Hot water is essential to our medical washes — temperatures of over 50 degrees kill scabies mites and their eggs. Allowing for hot water provision in camp would help residents to manage scabies themselves and encourage better hygiene practices, reducing the risk of reinfection.
Secondly, ensuring hot water in the camp would likely improve the number of respiratory illnesses, boost physical and psychological wellbeing, and promote better hygiene practices. In winter, temperatures on Lesvos can drop to sometimes below freezing, the lack of hot water becomes an even more pressing concern. Currently, residents of the camp face a cold shower, followed by a freezing walk back to their housing units. This, combined with the international mixture of germs that lingers in the air of a container inhabited by multiple families, or in a poorly ventilated RHU, means that the prevalence of respiratory illnesses comes as no surprise.
For more vulnerable residents, especially children and the elderly, cold water showers can weaken the immune system and increase risks of respiratory illnesses like flu and pneumonia. It is severely discouraged to bathe babies and children in cold water, meaning parents can struggle keeping babies safely clean in the winter months, facing the impossible choice: risking sickness or to allow them to go without bathing for days.
Lastly, hot water in camp should not be a privilege, it should be a fundamental human right. People on the move have endured traumatic journeys, lost their homes, and some have experienced torture or fled war. Showering in cold water exacerbates stress for those who have experienced trauma, whereas warm showers enhance psychological wellbeing and contribute to better overall mental health. By preventing warm showers, we withhold a basic comfort that allows people to more relaxed, cleaner, and safer.
The situation in Lesvos is not an unsolvable crisis. Despite our efforts as Chair of the WASH sector on Lesvos, we have faced a slow response rate from the relevant authorities, as we try to ensure technical requirements are being met. We continue to advocate for adequate hot water provisions that at least meet Standard 8 of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) Guidance on Reception Conditions. We urge for the prioritisation of better infrastructure, investment in solar and backup heating, and a commitment to prioritising refugee welfare, ensuring hot water can become the standard that it should be, not a scarcity.