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Perplexity of Lesvos

Refugees

Perplexity of Lesvos

In Karatepe, on the island of Lesvos trouble. Because the 1500 refugees from the camps to fear since the EU-Turkey Deal, that they should be brought in the Turkey. Spiros Moskovou reported from Mytilene.

In the collecting station Karatepe, on the island of Lesbos and the registration Hotspot Moria has gotten around that the refugees should be evacuated to Kavala in Northern Greece to be transported. At the port of Mytilene, the giant ferry “El is already waiting.Venizelos” to the involuntary passengers. People are afraid that they will be deported to Turkey. It would be the abrupt end of an Odyssey to Europe.

Uncertainty among the refugees

Nour, a microbiologist from Damascus, holding her little son in her arms. She asks the mayor of Lesvos, Spiros Galinos, where the journey will lead, actually. The fear in their eyes is unmistakable. Galinos assured that the trip was not the objective of Kavala. Then your fear gives way to a more skeptical view. Family father Mahmoud from Syria, surrounded by his wife and three children, told the friendly mayor, that he had necessarily to Athens, where the Rest of the family waiting for him. He shows his ticket, issued for the coming Wednesday.

The Syrian Nour does not want to be brought to Turkey

Galinos promises him that he will reach as planned on Wednesday in Athens. Mahmoud is the relief. In spite of the protestations of the local authorities, many refugees refuse to but on Board the “El.To go Venizelos”. The ferry leaves the port half empty, and reached for inexplicable reasons, neither Kavala nor Turkey, but at the port of Eleusis near Athens.

We want to protect the victims

The situation is the same for all the pages cluttered and a whole range of modalities of the agreement between Brussels and Ankara are not yet known. Here, an attempt has been made to Lesvos in the past few months, the structures for the registration and the accommodation of the refugees. In the summer of the 30,000 refugees camped in tents in and around the capital city of Mytilene, as many as the inhabitants of the city itself. Since then, a number of larger and smaller Camps have been built, equipped with modern sanitary facilities and playgrounds. On the island of over 180 aid organizations are active, around 2000 Volunteers from several countries work for an orderly reception of refugees. “It was clear from the beginning,” says Galinos, in allusion to the closing of the Balkan route, “that our guests, refugees or migrants, are victims of the war, we had to take care of. The Problem is not the people, but the bombs, which destroy their houses. Unfortunately, there are political decisions that punish the victims. How you wanted to protect.”

A permanent burden on society

The inhabitants of Lesbos have taken care of in spite of the economic crisis to the new arrivals. Almost a third of the population are descendants of Greek refugees from Asia minor, sought in 1922 on the island of refuge. Nevertheless, the daily Drama of the Stranded and also a duration of Drowned burden on the local society. Here on Lesvos, hardly anyone believes that the agreement between the EU and Turkey will reduce the number of refugees in the longer term. Since the conclusion of the EU-Turkey-Deals ten crowded boats to reach each night, the Northern coast of the island. And there were already two Dead. The holiday island of Lesvos is to become a refugee island, with incalculable consequences for the tourism. The decline in bookings for the summer already stands at 80 percent – bad news for the countless families that are dependent on tourism.

In Mytilene, the Hotels are fully booked at the Moment: helper, idealists, journalists, politicians, provide a situational stimulus. But what of Lesvos, in the longer term, whether there are really fewer refugees are arriving, or whether or not the repatriation of illegal migrants is carried out in Turkey in fact, all of the stands in the stars. The people try to deal with the new Situation to befriend, believe, even, that a small part of the refugees may integrate in the island. No coincidence that the traditional Restaurant “Averof” at the harbour promenade, with two signs of the Arab clientele assured that here even without the pork is cooked.

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