Seeking justice for Moria death
Greek state sued for the first time over a refugee death by family of Moria camp resident who died in 2017.
SPECIAL REPORT 01.12.2018 • REPORTING: YIANNIS PAPADOPOULOS • PHOTOS: GIORGOS MOUTAFIS
The coroner's report is detailed: The deceased was wearing a blue long-sleeved T-shirt, a blue undershirt and two pairs of jogging pants. That's how cold it was. Egyptian Ahmed Elgamal had died of carbon monoxide poisoning while sleeping in his tent at the Moria refugee and migrant center on the Greek island of Lesvos on January 24, 2017. Two more people died of the same cause within just a week of that incident while trying to stay warm with makeshift stoves. Almost two years on, Elgamal's parents are seeking justice for the death of their 20-year-old son.
Mohamed and Yusreia Elgamal filed suit against the Greek state, which is responsible for the operation of the Moria camp, with Athens's Administrative Court of First Instance on Thursday, November 22. The family is represented by lawyer Sikina Pavlaki and it is the first time in Greece's judicial history that someone has sought reparations over the horrendous living conditions at the official migrant reception and identification center.
Elgamal was born in a village in the Dakahlia region of Egypt in 1997. He studied business administration in Mansoura but decided to leave Egypt before finishing the course. His parents said he made the decision due to insufficient resources and the suppression he felt from the regime.
He reached Turkey in November 2016 and spent around 10 days there before being smuggled by boat to Lesvos, along with 12 other people of different nationalities, all aiming to apply for asylum.
According to the lawsuit, documents from which Kathimerini has seen, Elgamal spoke with his parents by telephone, telling them that he was staying in a tent with other refugees and was waiting to see whether he would be deported or could find some way to stay in Greece. They say he sounded desperate as he described incidents of violence and daily outbursts of tension, and standing in line for hours just to eat.
Freezing temperatures
As the weeks rolled by, however, Elgamal's complaints began to focus on just one thing: the bitter cold. He spoke to his parents of suffering from it, of having no means of staying warm in his tent. Other than wearing several layers of clothing, during the day he would also wrap himself in a waterproof jacket he had been given and a blanket on top of that.
In one photograph of Elgamal found by Kathimerini, the 20-year-old Egyptian is seen sitting inside his tent in such a bulky outfit, with a T-shirt wrapped around his head for warmth.
Like so many other residents of the camp, these conditions were unprecedented for Elgamal. In early January 2017 their tents were covered in snow – something many had only seen in pictures. The 20-year-old's telephone calls to his parents became even more desperate. He spoke of a cough and fever, and said he was scared he was going to die.
Like many, he and the other men in his tent tried to stay warm by building makeshift stoves that they'd place near the entrance to their tents. In their lawsuit, Elgamal's parents claim that despite the risks, this was a practice that was encouraged by the staff at the Moria center at the time. The night of January 23, 2017, was another hard one for Elgamal, and he wasn't able to fall asleep until around 1.30 on the 24th. He never woke up.
Clenched fistsς
One of Elgamal's tent mates, Syrian Mustafa Mustafa, told investigators that even though the young Egyptian had not gotten up by 12.30 p.m. the following day, “we didn't stir him because we thought he was still asleep.” When 4 p.m. rolled around, they got seriously worried and then noticed that Elgamal was unconscious and his skin was freezing cold. His hands were also clenched in fists.
Kathimerini has learned that 46-year-old Mustafa is the only witness who testified to the police. Just four days later, he also died in his sleep from the same cause. It seems that no one had warned those living in tents of the risks of sleeping with their makeshift stoves turned on. The third death in just a week was that of Jat Wares Ali, a Pakistani national.
Toxic fumes
In November 2017, 10 months after those three consecutive deaths, Kathimerini presented its own investigation of the incidents with the story of Mustafa (“One week, three dead, zero accountability”). At the time, the Greek authorities had not ruled on the cause of death and the victims' families did not have any answers.
“It is degrading here. Gangs and the mafia steal from people on the island and in the camps and the police do not get involved. You can get stabbed and the police won’t do anything,” Mustafa had said in a 46-second WhatsApp voice message to his sister, who lives in the Netherlands. Just a few days later, he died in his tent.
In the case of both Elgamal and Mustafa, the death certificate signed by coroner Theodoros Nousias and seen by Kathimerini, says that the cause of death is “undetermined, pending toxicological and histological tests.”
