It looks like a refugee camp bordering Syria, yet this is Europe. The hotspot on Samos is managed by the Greek government and funded by the European Union, but it's illegal. Welcome to Europe's shame. Share the truth on the Samos hotspot and show the world what people here have to endure everyday. 4400 people live trapped in a space built for 650. 1500 of these are children…
Doro is kind, generous, thoughtful and gentle. His story though, should chill us all to our bones. For Doro has suffered for his dreams more than I could possibly describe. His story is not unusual, but it is compelling and a real and vivid testimony, which shows why no human should be returned to Libya.
Some very good and some very bad things are going on in Paris Camps. We had a tough week. Snow, evacuations, chaos - all of it was here before but it doesn't make things any easier. I got a lot of supports from many sides and we were ready to do distribution on Friday night. And then everything went to shit. We have a criminal group that is manipulating refugees and provoking violence…
Yesterday, Le Stadio Seawatche held the FIFA World Cup for people held hostage at sea. Teams came from Sudan, South Sudan, England, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Holland, Ghana, Guinnea Conakry, Guinnea Bissau, and the Central African Republic. The winner was everybody. But mostly me. Football is an international language which bonds and unites communities. You can be from anywhere in the world and have nothing in common, but drop a ball, and we play. Don’t have a ball? No problem. We’ll make one out of rags and tape. And we will play.
The recent Channel boat crossings have created a media storm and, while this may have been an opportunity to emphasise the deep rooted issues in hostile European immigration policies and increasingly violent and impenetrable borders, the perspective of those most entrapped by the lack of legal routes has been omitted. These are a few snippets of conversations we’ve had with displaced families living in both Calais and Dunkirk, who have resorted to these desperate measures.
Chios is snowing and there is a desperate need to buy blankets for people in the refugee camp. People live in tents and sleep right on the plastic bottom of the tent. People are shaking with cold when they queue. At the last delivery I had a warm scarf that I used to warm ice-cold hands with. If you want to be a fellow man then this is the right moment.
According to the testimony of those who knew him, the man lived in a tent in the Olive Grove, an overspill area bordering Moria camp. He had friends who were sometimes able to host him in a container. For three weeks, the man had been complaining about the cold. Winter in Lesvos has been very bitter this year, with temperatures plummeting below zero at night.
So let’s take a look to the streets in Thessaloniki. If we take a look on the streets, we'll find places where people have no home and are forced to sleep on the street, in abandoned buildings or empty trains. We will meet people from different countries, different ages, who are currently struggling to survive.
