Pope Francis visits refugee camp in Lesbos

Greece

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.

Overview:
  • There are currently over 2200 refugees in the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos
  • At least half of them are children
  • Since the beginning of 2015, nearly 1 million refugees have arrived in Europe via the Greek islands
We provide more than

850

meals to refugees a day
We distribute

meals and first aid items

for the most needy, inc. children, pregnant women and the sick

05.12.2021

Pope Francis visited the refugee camp in Lesbos today. Standing among the residents of Moria 2.0, he made an appeal to the whole world to always put the dignity of any individual above all else.

He deplored the use of common funds to erect barriers. “Problems are not resolved and coexistence improved by building walls higher, but by joining forces to care for others according to the concrete possibilities of each and in respect for the law, always giving primacy to the inalienable value of the life of every human being,” he said.

“It is easy to stir up public opinion by instilling fear of others. Yet why do we fail to speak with equal vehemence about the exploitation of the poor, about seldom-mentioned but often well-financed wars, about economic agreements where the people have to pay, about covert deals to traffic in arms, favouring the proliferation of the arms trade? Why is this not spoken of? The remote causes should be attacked, not the poor people who pay the consequences and are even used for political propaganda.”

The Pope also thanked all those who care for migrant people. The Good Factory is on the island all the time! Meals for the sick, pregnant women and children leave from the Home for All kitchen every day. In addition to providing emergency aid, we also sponsor the educational project School for All in the camp. Outside the camp, we teach refugees to farm and give them jobs in the agricultural project Homeland.

Today we want to encourage all of you to make the commitment that Pope Francis has asked of you and fund at least one hot meal for a refugee.

Urgent Help Needed

Save the Pharmacy for the Poorest in Togo

This amount will allow for equipping pharmacy shelves for the first half of the year. Ania and Mateusz will take care of this, and they will fly to Togo in February and fill the shelves with the most essential antibiotics, antimalarial drugs, and pain relievers. The Saoudé Pharmacy has people to save. It cannot succeed without your support.

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