Around 12,000 men, women and children are living in the so-called hotspots on the Greek islands, where they await the outcome of their asylum applications in dreadful conditions. Asylum procedures are complex and applicants must wait up to three years for a decision.

In Chios, MSF teams care for patients living in the Vial hotspot as well as in accommodation in the town centre. The team provides medical care as well as psychological care to thousands of patients. The majority of the illnesses treated can be linked to the miserable living conditions, the long waiting times for asylum procedures and to traumatic experience which either occurred whilst on the journey or pushed them to flee their homes in the first place.