Doctors Without Borers (MSF) said Wednesday it was pulling out of the refugee "hotspot" on the Greek island of Lesbos, due to "unfair and inhumane" conditions, AFP reported.
“We took the extremely difficult decision to end our activities in Moria (on Lesbos) because continuing to work inside would make us complicit in a system we consider to be both unfair and inhumane,” said Marie Elisabeth Ingres, the head of MSF in Greece.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Wednesday also suspended some of its activities in Greece, describing the reception centers for refugees as "detention facilities."
MSF said its decision followed a deal arranged last week by the European Union and Turkey that would see Greece deporting asylum seekers back to Turkey.
“We will not allow our assistance to be instrumentalized for a mass expulsion operation and we refuse to be part of a system that has no regard for the humanitarian or protection needs of asylum seekers and migrants,” Ingres added.
MSF has since closed all its operations at the Moria camp on Lesbos, including the transportation of refugees to sanitary and medical facilities.
“MSF will also continue to run mobile clinics on the island of Lesbos for those outside of the hotspot location,” the group said. MSF will also continue to run its transit center in Mantamados, 20 miles north of Lesbos, and will continue sea rescue activities.
The UNHCR said 934 asylum seekers had arrived at Lesbos since the deal went into effect on Sunday, stretching aid organizations' capacity to the limit.
