Greek Community of Alexandria

Tag: Refugees

  • Abandoned life jackets in Lesbos giving new hope to refugees

    Abandoned life jackets in Lesbos giving new hope to refugees

    ΓενικάLife jackets are a poignant symbol of the refugee crisis in Greece. Thousands of them which had been abandoned on the beaches of Lesbos are now giving life to a new project which will help the people who once wore the vests while also addressing a huge environmental problem.

    Jai Mexis and his partner Irene Psifidi returned home to Greece after university in the UK with a desire to help and have founded Odyssea. It is an NGO which aims to find a long term solution to the thousands of abandoned life jackets.

    “The whole story started very spontaneously, when I visited Lesbos. I tried to find a solution to the environmental problem. It was more of an experiment. An attempt to show that young Greeks can return to their country, that we can create something, even from garbage,” explained Jai Mexis.

    The beaches of Lesbos are where thousands of refugees first land. Their life jackets are left abandoned in the sand. In Turkey the vests can cost anything between 50 and 200 euros. Many of them are not fit for purpose. 

    Jai Mexis was serving meals to refugees with a volunteer group on Lesbos when he began creating temporary shelters out of flotsam and jetsam from old boats. Thus an idea was born.

    Now his NGO runs workshops with refugees and volunteers, where they create bags and mattresses which provide immediate relief to refugees. 

    He is joined by volunteers, many of them refugees who are living in shelters in Athens.

    “At first, refugees do not speak. They are afraid as they don’t know what they will face. Of course, they are familiar with the life jackets, they have used them to get here from Turkey. To some extent, they have overcome this dreadful experience and want to experiment with them,” Irene Psifidi the NGO coordinator told Euronews.

    Roheen Muradi from Afghanistan lost his mother in the Aegean Sea as they tried to get to Lesbos from Turkey. Fourteen refugees were on the boat, 11 drowned, his mother was among those who perished.

    “When I see the life jacket, I become so sad and I start to cry. In this life jacket I see my mother. When the Greek coast guard rescued some of us, they told me that they couldn’ t find my mother. They couldn’t find her body in the sea,” he recounted.

    The many items created here are sold to generate funds for both refugees and locals on the Greek islands. One of the ambitions is to raise enough money to buy a mobile medical unit for the people of Lesbos. Next month all the products will be available online.

    Euronews correspondent Apostolos Staikos reported from Athens:

    “And this is just the beginning. The aim is to start a small factory in Lesbos, which will create bags and other items from the abandoned life jackets. If the plan goes ahead, 50% of the employees will be locals and 50% refugees. For this to happen, refugees must obtain the right to work in Greece”.

    (www.euronews.com)

  • Three Greek photographers on Thomson Reuters team to win Pulitzer Prize

    Three Greek photographers on Thomson Reuters team to win Pulitzer Prize

    ΓενικάThree Greeks are among the photography staff of Thomson Reuters, which was awarded on Monday a Pulitzer Prize in the Breaking News Photography category, “for gripping photographs, each with its own voice, that follow migrant refugees hundreds of miles across uncertain boundaries to unknown destinations.” The Reuters photo coverage of Middle Eastern migrants arriving in Europe was led from Greece by Yannis Behrakis, chief photographer for Greece and Cyprus, and the Guardian newspaper’s 2015 Agency Photographer of the Year. The other two Greeks on the team that was awarded in the 100th installment of the prestigious event at New York’s Columbia University are Alkis Konstantinidis and Alexandros Avramidis. The team captured a series of images of migrants crowded on flimsy sea craft and their first moments upon reaching Europe. “We showed the world what was going on, and the world cared. It showed that humanity is still alive,” Behrakis said. “We made for these unfortunate people’s voice to be heard. Now with a Pulitzer, we feel that our work has been professionally recognized.” Some images showed families rushing ashore, flailing away in the water or collapsing on the beach. Others juxtaposed the rafters at sea with a cruise ship or a leaping dolphin or the setting sun.This year’s announcement marked the 100th anniversary of the Pulitzers, which began in 1917 after a bequest from newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer.

    (www.ekathimerini.com)

  • Greek family opens it home to Syrian refugee families

    Greek family opens it home to Syrian refugee families

    ΓενικάA Greek family opened its home to two Syrian migrant families last week, moved by the plight of thousands who have fled a five-year war for the security of Europe and are stranded.

    As soon as Dimitris Spiridis arrived with a huge bag of croissants to hand out to migrants living in a sprawling border camp at Idomeni, he decided that he needed to do more to help.

    “There was rain and fog. The only thing you could hear at eight in the morning was tears and coughing,” he said.

    “I was shocked. All the tents were soaked, all their clothes were soaked. Mud, humidity and tears, nothing else. Are we or aren’t we Christians?” Spiridis told Reuters Television.

    The 50-year-old used to work as a cook in Switzerland and has been back in Greece for five years, where, like so many in the recession-hit country, he has been unable to find a job and helps out in the family bakery.

    He and his wife Maria live about half an hour’s drive from Idomeni, in the small village of Evropos.

    Now they have one Syrian family in a small attic apartment and another family with three children are staying in their bedroom. The couple now sleep on the couch in their living room.

    Spiridis said he would house the families as long as necessary. “So, we are all living downstairs together. One big family, 22 people in total. It’s fine,” he said.

    More than 50,000 refugees and migrants are living in Greece and more are arriving despite a deal agreed by the EU and Turkey on Friday intended to halt illegal migration flows to Europe.

    Under the pact, Ankara would take back all migrants and refugees, including Syrians, who cross to Greece from March 20 and whose asylum applications are rejected. In return, the EU would take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and make financial and political concessions to Ankara.

    “I want Europe if it can, and I know it can, to accept these families from Syria, a place that has been destroyed, and for these families to be reconnected with their relatives,” Spiridis said.

    (www.ekathimerini.com)