Injured Syrian refugee faces 27 years in Greek prison on 'smuggling' charges

The man has been detained by Greece for six months since he was nabbed at the border by guards, Zaman al-Wasl reported.

The refugee, known under the pseudonym Ramez al-Homsi as he is from the city of Homs, says he was attempting to reach Germany to seek medical treatment for multiple injuries in the head, chest and back sustained over the course of the conflict in Syria.

Homsi is among around 180 Syrians currently imprisoned in Greece under charges of smuggling.

In Turkey, where he received medical treatment, Homsi arranged to be smuggled to Germany. However, despite having paid for the full trip, he was left on a Greek island, from where he made his way to the capital Athens.

There he arranged travel to Germany with another smuggler, at half of the usual cost due to his poor health.

Homsi says he was betrayed by the smuggler, who turned him into the Greek police in Thessaloniki.

Conditions in the prison, "packed with drug dealers and perpetrators of murder and theft", are reportedly dirty and crowded.

Prison cells of only 12 metres squared are packed with 35 prisoners each, Homsi alleges, and an allowance for food and other supplies given for prisoners is mostly stolen by the prison director.

Prisoners are assigned an 85 euro ($95) allowance, but allegedly only receive 8 euros ($9).

In addition, he claims that the dozens of prisoners present are only assigned two bathrooms, which are "extremely dirty".

Homsi claims he and other prisoners have been denied effective medical treatment.

Instead of being taken to see a doctor, he says, sick detainees are given an injection which makes them sleep for a long time. Detainees who complained about the prison conditions were also given an injection of an "addictive" unknown substance.

Greek police used tear gas to disperse a group of around 500 refugees who attempted to cross the Greek border with North Macedonia on Friday, Balkan Insight reported.

Refugees began gathering at the Diavata refugee camp close to the border on Thursday, reportedly after seeing false reports on social media that human rights groups would aid them in crossing the border.

A group of around 500 refugees also occupied the main train station in Athens after being blocked from boarding a train to Thessaloniki, the main city near to Diavata.

More than 70,000 refugees are trapped in Greece, facing dire economic situations.