Category Archives: Mytilini

Greece, Journey back to the borders, Mytilini, Part III

Journey back part III: One Day at the port

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The people face unbearable conditions here: families even with young children and babies have to sleep outside on the ground in the overcrowded camps and in the harbor, without a tent, without a blanket, often even without anything under them. Some of them lost everything on the boat: Today we met a woman, traveling alone with her three small children. She not only lost her passport, her money, everything on the boat between Turkey and Lesvos. We managed to buy some baby food and pampers, we could offer shoes for the children from our donations. But she is just one of so many people here on the island. Around 80.000 refugees arrived in 2015 on Lesvos. The island as a whole has 86.000 inhabitants.

Who goes today in the harbor? Who’s heading for Kara Tepe? And who to Moria? These are the finishing questions of our daily plenary. After “using” the midday heat in the shade sitting to reflect on the yesterday, and to plan the today, we head to these the three places – equipped with many info flyers, water, often also medicine, clothing and paper and pens.
To the harbor in Mitilini refugees go directly after they have arrived on the island and need to register for the first time. From there they are brought into the camps either Kara Tepe or Moria. After their second registration, after having got the white paper, with which they have the right to buy a ferry ticket to the mainland, they go again to the harbor for buying a ferry-ticket waiting for the date to have the chance to leave the island and go on their way to Europe.
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Greece, Journey back to the borders, Mytilini, Part III

Journey III: First Impressions

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The first morning we stay at the beach in Charamida with a bigger group: About 4AM some of us hear the sound of an engine, people shouting. Directly at the beach next to us a boat with refugees from Syria and Iraq arrived. We go to welcome them and bring them some water and biscuits. It is a group of about 40 people, among them many families with children, who arrived from Turkey after 4 hours in the sea.
We call the coastguard, we call the police, but without much hope that they will come and pick them.

There are so many arrivals these days and mostly the people have to walk and walk for hours until they reach Mitilini where they have to register in the port. The way from Charamida to Mitilini is long.
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Greece, Journey back to the borders, Mytilini, Part III

Arrival in Mytilini and construction of the camp

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The first groups of w2e and JoG arrived in Mytilini (Lesvos) / Greece. The people from Greece, Sweden, Germany and France arrived on different ways. Some of them flew to Athens or directly to Mytilini, others travelled by car and ferry. Some of them already met in Athens where they organized the infoguides in different languages. When the ferry arrived in Mytilini some of the people had to stay in the harbour because the cars were full of material. So they got some first impressions of the situation there. The others on their way to the camp already saw the first refugees who had just arrived.

They were on their way to the harbour where the first registration takes place. Our people went fast to the camp to unload the cars, then they drove back to catch up the refugees because the way from where they arrive to the harbour is very long and the heat makes it very hard to get there. Back in the harbour, they caught up the rest of our group to go back to the camp where the work started. The camping place was really dirty, full of garbage and a lot of things were broken, so everything had to be renovated and cleaned. Also the tents had to be build up. But it wasn’t possible to arrive slowly and relaxed because during the construction of the camp every night more and more refugees arrived on the island. So with the start of the camp the action began immediately.

Greece, Mytilini

Ο Δήμαρχος της Μυτιλήνης θέλει να κλείσει το αυτοδιαχειριζόμενο κέντρο υποδοχής προσφύγων στο ΠΙΚΠΑ

Αυτήν την εβδομάδα ο Δήμαρχος της Μυτιλήνης κ. Γαληνός ανακοίνωσε ότι θα κλείσει το αυτοδιαχειριζόμενο κέντρο υποδοχής προσφύγων το τέλος Σεπτεμβρίου. Το ΠΙΚΠΑ διαχειρίζεται από το 2012 μία τοπική πρωτοβουλία με το όνομα «Το Χωριό του Όλοι Μαζί».

Την νύχτα της 18ης -19ης Σεπτεμβρίου ένα στρατιωτικό πλοίο μετέφερε έναν άγνωστο αριθμό προσφύγων από την φυλακή κοντά στο χωριό Μόρια προς έναν άγνωστό προορισμό, το πιθανότερο σε ένα από τα μεγάλα κέντρα κράτησης της ελληνικής ενδοχώρας, όπου θα έρθουν αντιμέτωποι με μεγάλες περιόδους κράτησης, επίσημα έως 18 μήνες. Στην πράξη μπορούν να κρατηθούν πολύ περισσότερο.

In the "reception center" close to the village of Moria - we call it "Pagani of the Troika"
In the “reception center” close to the village of Moria – we call it “Pagani of the Troika”

Continue reading Ο Δήμαρχος της Μυτιλήνης θέλει να κλείσει το αυτοδιαχειριζόμενο κέντρο υποδοχής προσφύγων στο ΠΙΚΠΑ →

Greece, Mytilini

Mayor of Mitilini wants to close down self-organised Welcome Center for Refugees

– Press release of Welcome to Europe –

19th September 2014

Mayor of Mitilini wants to close down self-organised Welcome Center for Refugees

This week the mayor of Mitilini, Mr. Galinos announced to close down Pikpa, the self-organised Welcome Center for refugees on Lesvos by the end of September. Since 2012, Pikpa is run by volunteers from the local initiative “Village of all together”.

In the night from 18th to 19th of September, a military ship transported an unknown number of refugees from the prison close to the village of Moria to an unknown destiny – most probably to one of the big camps on the Greek mainland, where they will have to face long periods of detention, officially up to 18 months but in practice sometimes even longer.

The announcement of mayor Galinos perfectly mirrors this situation. We read it as an announcement to not learn from the history of Lesvos island. To not learn from the hardships refugees had to go through in Pagani, a prison also known as “Dantes inferno”. To not learn from the struggles that had led to its closure. And to not learn from the two years of encouraging experiences made in running a real Welcome Center at the gates of Europe.
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