Call for help and solidarity in support of refugees in northern Greece

Dear friends,

 we would like to inform you about the refugee situation in Greece and specifically in the city of Thessaloniki and the surrounding Macedonia region in the hope you can help us con tend with the growing crisis.

As more and more conflict arises in Syria and the surrounding areas, more people are fleeing, leaving their homes behind to seek refuge in Europe.

There has been a considerably large incoming wave of refugees during the past four months, as a result of the recent strikes. The vast majority of the refugees arriving are families with underaged children and elders, as well as individuals.

In Thessaloniki, there are a few tens to a few hundreds of arrivals per day. Only very few of the hospitality centers set up by the government in the past two years are still working and they are certainly not enough to host all the arriving refugees. The three centers around Thessaloniki are about 50 to 70 km away from the city and can only offer housing to the newly arrived.

But since these facilities are already overcrowded, a lot of people have to stay in the streets. In many places in Thessaloniki, families are forced to sleep on the sidewalks, without any support from the state.

We, the people of the Ecological Movement of Thessaloniki and Oikopolis, consider it our duty to support these people during their rough journey towards safety and we collaborate closely with all the organizations and volunteer groups that are engaged in our city.

In order to help these people we constantly try to:

• Cook and distribute hot meals and fruits - vegetables for people that don’t have any access to cooked food.
• Provide them with raw materials for cooking in their houses or in the camps.
• Supply them with personal hygiene products for adults and children as well
• Offer baby milk as well as the possibility to prepare it in our place
• Support them with their medical expenses
• Collect and distribute clothes , shoes, sleeping bags, tents and anything else that will help them if they are homeless.
• Have free English and Greek language lessons

We are gathering all available supplies and we would be grateful if anyone would like to contribute any of the following:

Baby formula and baby food

Baby diapers and wet wipes

Strollers and baby carriers

Personal hygiene and care goods, soaps etc.

Rice and pasta

Legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils etc.)

Flour, Oil (sunflower oil, olive oil)

Fruit and vegetables

Men’s clothes and shoes

Children’s clothes and shoes

Socks and underwear

Backpacks

Sleeping bags

Any financial contribution will also be highly appreciated!

You can contact us at:

Tel: 0030 2310222503 - email: oikopolis.social.center@gmail.com

Visit us at:

ΟΙΚΟΠΟΛΙΣ/ΕCOPOLIS, Ptolemeon 29a, 5th floor, Thessaloniki

Visit our pages:

https://www.facebook.com/oikopolis.social.center/

https://www.facebook.com/SupportRefugeesInGreece/

Make a donation at the following account:

ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ / NATIONAL BANK OF GREECE

IBAN GR2301102170000021729602652

Swift code: ETHNGRAAXXX

ΟΙΚΟΛΟΓΙΚΗ ΚΙΝΗΣΗ Ν. ΘΕΣ/ΝΙΚΗΣ

ECOLOGICAL MOVEMENT OF THESSALONIKI

Passing through - memories from the Western Balkan Route

I took this photograph in August, 2015 in the neutral zone that separates Greece from it's northern neighbour, Macedonia. Then, the village of Idomeni was unknown, even to the vast majority of Greeks. A tiny railway crossing that for some reason was fast becoming the focal point for refugees taking the Western Balkan Route from  Turkey to the countries of northern Europe.

However, this day was different, instead of tens or hundreds making their surreptitiously across the border to catch the north bound train in the town of Gevgeliji, thousands had been left stranded by the decision by the Macedonian government to close down the unofficial crossing point and deploy both riot police and border troops to enforce this decision.

With summer temperatures reaching 35C+  these people were left to fend for themselves in the fields around the tiny railways station on the Greek side of the border, Drinking water was virtually non-existent and refugees were reduced to drinking water from the irrigation systems in nearby fields, and sanitary facilities were just a handful of portoloos that quickly became unusable due to the demands of so many people.

The fact that the border had been closed came as no surprise as this had been a fairly regular occurrence all through the summer of 2015 as EU and Balkan governments vacillated over what to do with the ever increasing number of refugees and migrants fleeing the fighting in Syria and Afghanistan and poverty in other regions of the world.

This confusion manifested itself as an endlessly changing policy on the part of the Greek authorities and in particular, the police who would turn a blind eye to refugees making their way from the Greek islands to Idomeni and then suddenly introduce bans of movement in the north. Not, that such moves made much of difference to the numbers of refugees moving north, if the trains were denied them, refugees took the local buses or taxis. In the worst cases when all other options were denied them , they simply walked, guided the 70 km from the nearest large city, Thessaloniki by Google maps.

However, not only the Greek authorities but also their Macedonia counterparts had started to clamp down on refugee movement and not only were the borders more tightly guarded, the train that connected Gevgeliji with Belgrade had been suspended, the daily service completely overwhelmed by the scale of the passenger flow.

Yet, the border was still relatively porous and the nothing to mark it out but a dusty series of paths and raggedy hedges that separated Macedonian and Greek fields. With nothing in the way of natural or man made barriers to deter them , many made the dash to the nearby town , chased down by Macedonia police or border units in the wheat fields.

On the other hand while this was an option for healthy young people with a sense of adventure, it was really possible for the bulk of refugees who were travelling in family groups, often with older relatives or young children, Instead, they sweltered in the summer heat, waiting for the travel rules to change once again as they has so many times before.

The local solidarity groups that had been helping those making the journey north since 2014 were overwhelmed by the sudden increase in the scale of the numbers of refugees suddenly amassed in Idomeni and so appeals groups across northern Greece to come and help out. I managed to wing a place on a convoy of cars and vans that had set out from Thessaloniki, carrying drinking water, cooked food, clothing and sanitary items. I had been doing this with my group since May and I thought my experience would help in this situation and in that I was completely and utterly wrong.

Not only was the scale of the crisis much greater than I had previously experienced, the state of those in need was far more precarious. Instead of providing food and clothing to those who were tired and weary from their journey from Athens to Thessaloniki, these people were in need of far more and as a result more desperate. It was a combination that required all those providing help and required a degree of discipline and organisation that we had till then not obtained.It quickly became clear that if we were not to create more problems then we were solving then we would have to up our game.

The experience and failures I witnessed that day would prove invaluable when our group started going up to Idomeni on a regular basis later on in September and till the route was finally shut down for good in March 2017.

Refugee Voices - interview with a Syrian refugee stranded at Idomeni, Greece

This interview took place on the 2nd March 2016 at the Eidomeni transit camp on the Greek Macedonian border. This man has been stranded in a field, sharing a flimsy tent with the other members of his family for 11 days. Just a few hundred people are allowed to cross the Macedonian border every day whilst approximately 1,000 refugees arrive per day. As a result 11,000 are stuck in  a transit camp designed to hold 1,500 for a day, not the two weeks some have been there.

The Refugee Solidarity Movement of Thessaloniki and Eidomeni goes up to Eidomeni twice a week to serve hot, sweet Syrian style tea. Wherever possible our volunteers help out with other groups.

For more on who we are and what we do check out our Facebook page.

Refugee crisis brings racist rhetoric back into the European mainstream

''The waves of immigrants threaten to turn Europe into an endless hell of Islamic terrorism"

Greek Orthodox bishop Anthimos - Thessaloniki 14th February 2016

The current refugee crisis  has awakened the very worst in Europe's collective psyche, with racist rhetoric that would have been considered unacceptable in "respectable" discourse a few years ago becoming part of mainstream political discussions. Ideas and attitudes that were once the preserve of far right extremists are gradually worming their way into media and political debate as the arrival of refugees prompts responses that often verges on the hysterical.

Bishop Anthimos, who has long been a fixed feature of the Greek Orthodox ultra-nationalist far right addressed a conference on Sunday in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki in order to draw attention to the supposed threat of the "Islamisation" of Europe. In this he is hardly along as similar ideas are quickly gaining ground in other nations (just see Hungary's PM, Viktor Orban and the rise of the Pegida movement in Germany and elsewhere. With austerity policies making the traditional parties of power ever increasingly unpopular, many politicians have been happy to scapegoat refugees directly or ride the wave of fear whipped up by mainstream media outlets looking to boost flagging ratings and declining political influence.

With many European states willing to use heavily armed NATO warships to stem the flow of refugees in the Aegean and fund Macedonia to fence in EU member, Greece the fear of the Other so shamelessly cultivated by much the continent's mainstream media is bearing poisonous fruit, Once more Europe has shown that Fear sells, both at the polling both and the news stand.

Latest video from the Eidomeni transit camp on the Greek - FYR Macedonian border

With Greek farmers blocking highways across the country coaches carrying refugees from Athens to the northern border crossing are being forced to take provincial roads. As a result the journey can take more than 12 hours.

To add to an already chaotic situation the Greek police are unwilling or unable to provide information to NGOs and volunteer groups at Eidomeni concerning when and how many coaches are arriving on any given day.

Partly, this is due to the police's long standing hostility to humanitarian groups operating at the camp, partly, it is incompetence. Although the police have been given the responsibility of monitoring refugee coaches on the move they do not seem to be able to implement this policy in practice.

As a result making decision about how much, food, water and other forms of aid will be needed becomes a matter of guesswork.

The Refugee Solidarity Movement of Thessaloniki - Eidomeni was on hand to give out cups of hot sweet tea last Wednesday and Saturday but with few arrivals we had far fewer "customers" than on other occasions. Still, plenty waiting in the camp to cross the border were happy for the offer of a cup of tea.

Other volunteers helped out at the clothing distribution tent where their Arabic/Greek/English speaking skills were much appreciated.

Fortunately, the border was open for much of the day, though how long it will so is unsure as FYR Macedonia and Greece come under ever more pressure from northern EU nations to stem the flow of refugees taking the Western Balkan Route from the Aegean to northern Europe.

Refugee Solidarity Movement of Thessaloniki and Eidomeni

Refugee Solidarity Movement Thessaloniki and Eidomeni - What we do.

A surge in arrivals at the Eidomeni transit camp on Greece's northern border with Macedonia obliged the Greek police to open the main camps in order to deal with the increase in refugee numbers. However, the Macedonian border was often closed in late January for long stretches at a time and without warning leading to long delays. Even when it was open only a trickle of refugees were allowed to cross in order to continue their journey north.

Once again the Refugee Solidarity Movement of Thessaloniki and Eidomeni were there to hand out hot, sweet tea and help out wherever there is a need. Thankfully, we have built up good working relations with NGOs who operate there 24/7 and volunteers from our group often lend a hand when things are rushed and help is needed.

Video: Winter at Eidomeni - Refugees wait to cross the Greece - FYR Macedonia border

Over one million refugees entered Europe in 2015, the vast majority chose the Western Balkan route which leads from the Turkish coast via the Greek islands to Eidomeni, a tiny village on the Greek - FYR Macedonian border. Over 800,000 people have passed through this unofficial crossing point which is little more than a collection of tents armed guards and barbed wire before going on North to their final destination in nations such as Germany, Austria and Sweden.

Since May the Refugee Solidarity Movement Thessaloniki has been offering help to those making the trek north first in the city of Thessaloniki and then from September we have been going to Eidomeni where we serve hot tea and help out the other groups providing food, clothing and information to refugees arriving there.

Video: Refugees crossing the frontier: Eidomeni on the Greek - FYR Macedonian border

Eidomeni, located in northern Greece is a major transit point for refugees trying to reach northern Europe after arriving on the Greek island from Turkey.

Despite temperatures that can fall as low as -16c the Greek police has been refusing to allow those arriving to use the facilities at the camp, which were erected at great expense by international NGOs. Instead of being able to stay in heated tents with time to get hot food, clothing and medical attention people are often kept by the Greek police  for anything up to 20 hours in coaches that have brought them from Athens at a local roadside petrol station - restaurant. This has proved a major source of income for the service station which, otherwise would be quiet at this time of year.

NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and local volunteer groups have repeatedly implored the Greek authorities to change their policy yet to no avail. Instead refugees are rushed through the Eidomeni border crossing in a matter of minutes giving aid groups little time to provide them with food and other forms of aid.

For more on the situation in Eidomeni check out the Refugee Solidarity Movement of Thessaloniki and Eidomeni Facebook.