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.
01.02.2023
More boats are heading to Greece again. Near the airport on the island of Lesbos, the body of a young African woman who had arrived on the island with 25 other refugees was found. This is another victim of European resentment towards migrants. Last year, tens of thousands of asylum seekers in Europe experienced illegal pushback.
Shortly after a group of frozen and emaciated refugees reached the island of Lesbos, they hid in the forest. They knew that the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights were, to put it mildly, treated selectively towards them by the authorities, and pushbacks had become common practice. In all likelihood, the African woman died of hypothermia. This is the 49th boat that has managed to cross the narrow strait between the Turkish coast and the Greek islands. A similar number have been turned back.
The number of refugees in the camp on Lesbos is growing, with more than 2,000 people there at the moment. Plans for a new camp set in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the island, are also still unclear. It is nearing the end of its construction, which has already cost more than €100 million. However, the controversy does not end there. Human rights activists are sounding the alarm that a hidden ghetto for migrants is being built on the island with millions of European funds. In just a few days we will be on site talking to our partners about the changing situation.
At any time, each of you can reach out to the residents of the camp on Lesbos. Donate a hot meal to a sick person, a diabetic or a pregnant woman.
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 […]
