IRC warns of mental health crisis on Lesvos as Greece moves asylum seekers

Greece moved another 400 people from its biggest migrant camp on Tuesday as the International Rescue Committee (IRC) charity warned of a mental health emergency there with 30 percent of people having attempted suicide.

The government, under pressure from aid groups and local authorities, has said it will transfer 2,000 people from Moria camp on Lesvos to the mainland by the end of the month.

In a report published Tuesday, the IRC said asylum-seekers in Moria, most of whom are Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan, were under "enormous mental strain."

Citing testimonials of patients who have visited its own clinic on the island, IRC said that in addition to the 30 percent of people who had attempted suicide about 60 percent had contemplated it.

"Several times I have attempted suicide," it quoted Ahmad, a 35-year-old Iraqi single father of four children as saying. ...