The outdoor areas in the center of Rhodes have turned into public health hazards, as large volumes of garbage have accumulated in parks where migrants have set up temporary camps.
Particularly in the park next to the post office and the Thermes park, migrants have found refuge after being removed from the area behind the regional government building.
The overwhelming stench, exacerbated by the lack of public sanitation facilities, has sparked serious concerns about the safety of public health.
The situation is worsened as the migrants, lacking access to proper sanitation, are forced to relieve themselves wherever possible, further contributing to the unhygienic conditions.
Despite the municipality’s daily efforts to clean and wash the parks, the measures have proven insufficient to tackle the scale of the issue.
The mayor of Rhodes, Alexandros Koliadis, recently highlighted during a meeting that ministries are exchanging emails over who is responsible for the supervision of a designated space in Akandia, but no concrete action has been taken yet.
As the migrant influx continues, the parks are becoming more crowded, exacerbating the public health risks.
Migrants are being transferred to reception centers at a slow pace, making the problem increasingly difficult to manage, while the need for immediate solutions to address the garbage buildup becomes ever more urgent.
