The next step of assimilation

In 2016, outside the village of Petra in the foothills of Mount Olympus, a deserted and crumbling psychiatric hospital that had at one time functioned as a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients became the site of a makeshift camp comprising canvas tents.

This forlorn spot, many kilometers away from the nearest town or city, was deemed suitable by the state authorities to host 1,300 refugees, members of the Kurdish Yazidi minority.

The camp was run by the military, with volunteers teaching the children Greek and other foreign languages, and international nongovernmental organizations covering all their other needs. The camp's residents included women who had spent time as ISIS hostages.

With the coming of winter, their tents were buried in snow and survival became a serious challenge. The canvas structures came down and the residents were moved to another...