In 2015, 856,000 people passed through the Greek islands, and in 2017 and 2018 only just under 30 thousand (according to UNHCR). But 2019 brought already a growth – over 60,000 newcomers. Today, boats coming to Greek beaches are back again, and practice shows that you can get stuck in Lesbos for a good few years. Nikos and Katerina run a small restaurant on the island, where every refugee can feel at home and eat a meal for free.
07.02.2022
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Athens yesterday to show their opposition to the pushbacks and violence at the Greek borders that led to the deaths of 19 migrants last week alone. In contrast, a few weeks ago residents of the Greek islands blocked the unloading of a ferry carrying materials to build another refugee camp. They do not want their home to become a ‘prison of souls’, a prison tucked away in an inaccessible part of the island for people no one wants. Tension on the islands is rising again.
At the same time, a young mother, Rahimi, still cannot understand what is happening around her in Camp Moria 2.0. Her children are still too young to ask questions. The youngest was born a few months ago. And it’s a good thing they don’t ask, because the young mother still doesn’t know what she should tell them. How can she explain to her child that in trying to save her, she has fallen into the trap of slavery in a Europe that cherishes the idea of freedom like a precious gem? – We’re not from here, I know, but we’re not from there anymore either. Nobody wants us there, everything that belonged to us has been destroyed. If we go back, we die too,” says Rahimi in horror. Her children do not know life outside the camp surrounded by a high fence and barbed wire. Apart from the fact that they were born in such, not in any other place in the world, they have done nothing wrong to be looking at the future through bars. We cannot explain it to them either. What we can do, and what we must do, is feed them, strengthen them and ensure that hope is not extinguished.
We will not solve all the problems of people who find themselves in this trap, fleeing from danger in their homelands, but we can at least buy time, which may be decisive for them to solve these problems. We may have different opinions and views on Europe’s migration policy, but not on whether to feed a hungry child. It is our duty. That is why, for three years now, we have been reaching out to them with a warm meal or with whatever they need most. Join us!
27.08.2023
The unpaved road stretches for kilometres and winds down the mountainous slopes. It cuts through bone-dry pine forests. From here to Mitylena, the island’s capital, it is more than 40 kilometres. To any sign of civilisation – more than 10. Out of sight, out of mind of all outsiders, a gigantic new refugee camp is […]
14.08.2023
Onur was a baker in Kurdistan. He is not afraid of any job. Stately, broad-shouldered, hands like vices. They have strength and feel. He arrived in Lesbos eight years ago. Abdul got off the boat on a Greek beach a year later. In Syria, he was a mechanic. He has fixed up his decrepit old […]
09.08.2023
“No disease will touch them. They are wild trees. They have already survived more than one pest.” When Nikos talks about olives, he grabs the listener’s full attention. You fall into a tunnel where there are you, Nikos and the olives. We talk like this for several hours. I don’t know how many. Nobody is […]
