Author: borderviolencelesvos

On the 6th of January, an invitation to contractors for emergency needs to strengthen the system of reception of immigrants and refugees in Lesvos was issued by the Greek government totaling a whopping 15 million Euros. The budget provided is allegedly for heating, motor oil, transport of non food items, restoring housing areas, strengthening the health system, and the expansion of the capacity of the Mavrovouni camp. While 15 million euros is already an unfathomable amount of capital to comprehend, the vague description of where this money is supposed to go leaves a lot of questions, which deserve a closer look:

Continue reading A never ending list of Questions

What would have been a moment of joy for many people turned yet into another slap in the face.

After waiting for over a year for an outcome on their asylum procedure, during the last months over 2000 people have received their positive decision. However, being recognized as a refugee doesn’t mean that you can leave the camp or the island immediately, since it can take several months for travel documents to be issued. However, the special task force is currently on Lesvos and is issuing documents in the hope of speeding up the process. Regardless, people still have to wait over a month in order to get their papers. On Tuesday 14 December, the camp’s policy suddenly changed once again.

Continue reading A Fitting End To Yet Another Miserable Year