Inside a cylindrical white tent at the Ritsona camp, children who have seen too much try to learn how to be young again. Every day, about 40 children, many of whom have survived perilous journeys to reach southern Europe, come to this safe space, set up by the Spanish Red Cross, to draw, play and let off steam.

Today, they are learning about hygiene. A volunteer teaches the basics at a whiteboard as children perch on stools. Their drawings are strung across the tent’s ceiling.

There are about 120 children aged between six and 12 at Ritsona, an open camp in a forest about 80km from Athens. Teenagers have taken it upon themselves to help out in the safe space – noses are wiped and hands are held.

“Before we started the safe space, they would spend all day running around the woods and playing in the dirt. Now, they have some structure to their day,” says Espe Cruz Pérez, a psychosocial volunteer with the Spanish Red Cross.

About 53,000 refugees are stuck in Greece – half are believed to be minors; as a result of border closures between Greece and Macedonia, nobody knows how long they’ll be there.

The majority arrive from Syria or Afghanistan. On Lesbos and Chios, many refugees and migrants are held at detention centres, such as Moria and Vial. According to Amnesty International, about 4,200 people are detained in these closed centres – they cannot leave and conditions are believed to be dire, with little access to information on seeking asylum.

People in closed centres probably travelled from Turkey to the Greek islands after the EU-Turkey deal was signed on 20 March, and do not have papers. Syrians, Afghans, Eritreans and Somalis are unlikely to be deported from Greece back to Turkey, but the EU is trying to make it clear that those arriving from Iran and Iraq are not guaranteed asylum.

Those living in open camps, like Ritsona, usually arrived before 20 March, and are often more vulnerable – they include elderly people, pregnant women and children.

Marleen Korthals Altes, a psychiatrist working for Save the Children, says children show signs of distress in the camps: some behave badly, others withdraw from life.

Psychosocial issues often come out during time spent in the safe spaces, with drawings revealing what is in the children’s minds.

One picture by a girl shows a blue sky above a boat in the waves. In the water is a head, a person drowning, the face emoticon-sad.



A drawing by a child at Ritsona camp.

The pictures show that many children are anxious. When encouraged to draw a safe memory, many are unable to do so, and instead draw violent memories they are unable to suppress.

“We are involved in a situation with a lot of uncertainty, and children are becoming visibly more frustrated and agitated. What we have seen is more children becoming clingier or developing behavioural issues,” says Sacha Myers, communications manager for Save the Children, who has gathered children’s drawings from across the Greek camps.

Abdul*, 42, says he left Iraq to protect his children. He now lives in Kara Tepe camp on Lesbos with his 12-year-old daughter, Nada.

“In Iraq, we saw a lot of killings; people died right in front of our eyes. What my children saw will never go away from their minds. They have psychological scarring, and that’s why we left, because I want to take my children to a better place where they are safe,” he told Save the Children.

Abdul with his daughter, Nada.

Nada and Abdul have been on the island for three months. They travelled with Nada’s two brothers, aged 13 and 17, but were separated in the chaos when they landed on the beach. Abdul thinks his boys may be in Athens and plans to take the ferry to the Greek capital to locate them.

“To be away from my sons is very bad because they are children. It is the worst thing,” he says. “We miss them very much.”

Dr Jeyathesan Kulasingam, a Red Cross psychologist, estimates about 25% of the total refugee and migrant population suffer from psychosocial illness.

“Of these, a rough estimate is around 12% have disorders, that, if they were in the UK, they’d probably be categorised as having severe mental health issues,” he says.

Three main factors lead to mental health issues among the children here: the initial conflict in their home country; a traumatic journey; and precarious life in camps in unplanned destinations.

According to the Centre for Victims of Torture, which helps Syrian children in Jordan, children often feel a responsibility to support and protect their family. Children describe “guarding their families by standing watch by the door, or worrying about how best to comfort their parents when they are distressed”. They also hide their trauma to protect their parents.

Salma and her daughter, Laila.

Salma* and her daughter Laila, 12, left Syria in February and now live in an open camp on Lesbos. Salma does not allow interviews with her daughter because she has been through too much already. She has bad dreams, wakes often in the night, and cries a lot.

“My daughter feels safe here but she’s always missing school and our home in Syria, she wants to settle. She’s waiting for a normal life,” she told Save the Children.



Kulasingam says: “These are people who had a plan, and they’ve now been stopped from continuing that. Some are gradually beginning to accept their situation, while others, mainly young men, are still fighting to leave.”

*Surnames withheld to protect identities