On Thursday 20 October 2022, an emergency team from the international medical organisation Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) received an official alert about a group of people, newly arrived on the Greek island of Lesvos, in need of urgent medical care. When an MSF team arrived on site, they found three people tightly handcuffed and four injured, reportedly from beatings.
“That day, we were called for an emergency intervention”, says Teo di Piazza, MSF project coordinator in Lesvos. “As we were approaching the location, on a mountain, we started hearing people screaming, a lot of screaming. We were worried and started running in their direction. When we arrived, we found 22 people. Everybody was crying, women, children and men. Three people were handcuffed very tightly with plastic bundles. Four others were injured. Based on their reports, the injuries were due to violence from a group of people who had left when we approached.”