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.
05.02.2023
On the 2nd of August 2015, a photo of a Syrian baby boy, Alan Kurdi, went viral around the world. The heartrending sight triggered a wave of angry voices: “Never again!”. Meanwhile, today, in roughly the same place, under identical circumstances, two five-year-olds, a four-year-old girl and a young woman drowned.
The body of a two-year-old washed up on the beach of a Turkish resort seven years ago and has become a symbol of how badly this world is arranged. Nothing has changed for the better in it, however. Pushbacks and illegal deportations of migrants to the places they left from are even more frequent today.
Today’s tragedy occurred near the island of Leros. The weather was not favourable. Rain, gusty winds, rough seas. The 45 passengers in the dinghy did not even know how to swim. For each of us this is insanity, for them an escape from certain death in their homelands.
Among the 41 rescued survivors, there were mainly children, newborn babies and women, including the elderly, for whom mobility is a problem. There is still one child fighting for their life in Rhodes hospital.
Seven years ago we all said: “never again!” No one was heard. The tragedies that occur at the borders have become part of our daily lives.
We will never accept this. We ask the indifferent to support our project on the Greek island of Lesbos, where everyone is affected by today’s tragedy. Tomorrow we set off again to feed and support the people in the camp, to listen to their stories and needs. We can help more people in your name too.
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 […]
