#syrian refugee
17.03.2016 idomeni, greece. this is shaharzad hassan, an eight year old girl from aleppo, syria. in the last weeks she became kind of famous because of her drawings of her traumatic memory´s. since the press loves this kind of story´s she was in the news all over world. now she is running around the camp with her dad, showing the drawings to all media people they meet. it was kind of an strange encounter, i did not really wanted to take the photos, but then i realized that i would put her in shame if i don´t react and did a bunch of photos with her. the one she is holding up is called “living in a camp” and show an impression of idomeni. especially the syrian refugees that i met have a strong dignity, it seems always a little bit harder for them to accept help, an invitation, a present. shaharzad was super sweet in the end, also i could sense that she actually don´t really feel comfortable showing of like that, on the other side proud that she is able to reach attention with her art. her drawings are strong images, but what really got me was the way she looked at me. the eyes of a kid that had seen far too much in her young life. i was thinking of giving her father a litte something, but instead i gave her a lolly and she gave me a big smile back.
Post link
17.03.2016 idomeni, greece. i was watching this young syrian boy playing alone on the rails for some minutes. he was entirely in his own world, playing several roles. then he spotted me and came to me, making signs that he wants me to take photos of him, smiling with his beautiful soft eyes. as you can see a part of his head is burned badly. it was one of these barrel bombs of the assad regime that created the fire that did this to him.
Post link
07.03.2016 harbor of mytilini, lesbos/greece. a syrian family is waiting to enter the ferry to pireaus. since the eu closed the balkan route, they will be stucked in greece, most likely somewhere in athens, with no where to go. the camps in and around athens are full. even if the greek government is able to set up new camps, turn empty industrial space into refugee spaces and using other facility´s, this will be only a drop in the ocean, because there are still coming refugees in big numbers and there is no way that greece can cope with that on it´s own. this will not only lead to a very bad situation for the refugees, ripping them of the hope to live a normal life and a prospect for their children, but also will lead to social and political unrest in greece soon. the rightwings in greece will win bigtime from this eu policy. it is most likely that we will see highly violent streetprotest on the streets of athens and other places in greece within the next 4 to 6 weeks, if the eu is not find a solution to open a way for the refugees to other country´s within the eu.
Post link
02.03.2016camp pikpa, lesbos/greeece. the therapist and social-workers at camp pikpa are doing a playful exercise with the children to get them used again to a sound that have them left deeply traumatised, the bang. since these children grew up in an environment of war, they connect this sound naturally with explosions and gunfire, so even in a peaceful environment they are scared to death whenever they hear this sound, because it brings them back to worst memory´s of their young life´s. the exercise is simple, they let the children blow up balloons and let them stick a needle in it to make them pop. i am deeply thankful for the work the people in the camp are doing and for the rare chance to document it, because it is the very comprehensible and strict policy of the camp-management to not allow any photos of the refugees in the camp. camp pikpa is a place exclusive for the very vulnerable cases, refugees that are so deeply traumatised that it is not possible for them to stay in the regular camps. the compassion and devotion from the volunteers here is simply incredible and they hold it up on a daily level.
Post link
dezember 2015, camp pikpa, lesbos/greece. i was visiting the refugee camp pikpa with my dear friend joostfrommovement on the ground this day. since the camp has a straight policy not to take photos of any refugees inside, because it is a camp for children and family´s, i only did some some photos from the environment with my old analog nikon f100. it is a place for children and one of the oldest camps on the island, full of little funky and arty details.
Post link
28.02.2016 camp pikpa, lesbos/greece. the artist selwyn senatori is spraying his art on the giving foodtruck formovement on the ground.the kitchen in a container can provide thousands of healthy, hot meals 24/7 to the refugees and aid workers there. since it came in november 2015 it was covered all over with the pictures of french fries and we all agreed that this have to change asap, but it was for sure not the first priority. thanks to johnny de molandmovement on the ground, now the truck is a happy and friendly piece of art, based in a camp for syrian children and family´s. selwyn had only one day to do this, so he was working all day long to get it done.
Post link
11.10.2015 between eftalou and skala sikamineas, lesbos/greece.
this photo shows a beach, about 20 minutes after a rubber dingy had reached the shaw. it is a place where you have to climb up to a dirtroad and then walk for 30-40 minutes. the person on this photo is a photojournalist from italy that worked on the island several times. right now lesbos is kind of calm on the surface, no boats came during the last days as far as i know. it was very windy, but the weather was warm. we ask ourselfs on the island what causes the stop, if it´s the turkish coastguard or police, or the high presence of navi vessels on the water. maybe it is just the wind, or they have no boats right now. we don´t know. on the other side it is getting hefty here under the surface. a lot of volunteers suffer from the low action, feeling not needed here. the goverment and political pressure is getting stronger as well. the camps are officially run by the military now, a lot of the food distribution will come from them as well, at least that is the new plan. the lifeguards spend time on the beaches waiting. frustration. the thing is, every one here knows that there are 2.5 million or more syrian refugees in turkey, another estimated 2 million refugees and immigrants and most of them want to, need to come, because there is no future for them in turkey. the western military analysts now think that assad actually going to win the war against the people of syria this year with the help of russia. so there will be no way in the future for the syrian refugees to go back to their home, it would be suicide. i guess another 500.000 to 1.000.000 syrians will flee in the next month from syria for the very same reason. same time europa close its gates, planing to use greece virtually as detention camp, while the country itself is falling even deeper into crisis. we know, they will come, somehow. if not to lesbos, chios, kos, samos, they will find other, even much more dangerous ways. the number of more than 4000 dead refugees last year will skyrock, but they will come. there is no other choice. there is nothing left for them, for their children. they deserve a future!
Post link
13.02.2016 - EUROPEAN UNION
according to the magazine “the spiegel”, 4 members of the eu in the east, hungary, polen, czech republic and slovakia are meeting next monday to have talks and agree on ways to close the balkan route for refugees entirely.
first of all this will be a breach of a whole bunch of laws and treaty´s, since these country´s have signed the geneva convention for refugees and the the european convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. they would also breach some other european laws about cooperations.
also that would imply that these country would disavow on fundamental ethic grounds of the eu.
it is a unilateralist move that could have the power to destroy the fundaments of the european union.
the same time the eu and the nato, led by germany, is sending military forces to greece to handle the boarder situation with turkey, militarizing a crisis that is caused by refugees fleeing from a genocide like war in syria. this way the eu betrays every ethic and moral grounds that it is claiming to stand for.
the last time fear was leading the european politics this way, there was no good end to it, it was in the late 20s and beginning 30s of the last century. the uprising of the far right, the barbaric ideology of fascism, especially in the east of europa, but also in most other country´s of the european union, has reached a point where these forces are able to drive the political process in front of them.
in germany, after ww2, we had the saying: “resist the beginnings” and we used that phrase to remind our selfs and our fellow human beings to let this kind of horror, the holocaust, the fascist movement in germany, never happen again.
we are in the middle of the beginnings already, on a european scale this time.
if you wan´t to live in a free society, based on ethical standards, on democratic standards, you have to stand up for your rights and beliefs NOW. you have to leave your comfort zone, your private bubble and take a stand. there is no time for wait and see anymore, for nobody. stop distracting yourself with bullshit and talk about the important topics, get activ, find better solutions for everyone. don´t wait for others to clean up the mess. act!
if you don´t, you will ask yourself in a few years: how could that happen? like our ancestors did.
and like our ancestors, you will ask yourself this question in the ruins of europa.
-
neal mcqueen
Post link
30.01.2016 petra, lesbos/greece. this photo shows about 150 refugees waiting for getting out of the harbor area to get on busses bringing them to camp moria. they have been picked up by a greek navy vessel which is part of the frontex mission. the european union just decided to deploy a group of nato navy war-vessels to this part of the agean sea, officially to help the fight against the organized criminals that do the human trafficking. this is very obvious a false flag operation, because it is not even possible to get to these people on the water, since they are never in the boats. most of the times the boats are piloted by the refugees itself, or some poor dude making a little bit of cash. so this way there will be no chance to get to the real smugglers doing the business. the real reason will be to scare the refugees off, because they normally don´t start when they see a coastguard or navy vessel around. also, since turkey is part of the nato, this way the vessels are there for monitoring the area and pass their infos directly to the turkish side. the frontex and the turkish coastguard is actually restricted by law to do that, even if this is most likely ignored. the whole mission of the nato vessels is pretty much a task to close the boarder, which would be only legal for them in a case of defense, according to the law, which was not declared so far. this start to look like a war on refugees.
Post link
ON THE ROADSIDE
08.02.2016 near skalochori, lesbos/greece. facing all this intense moments within the refugee situation on lesbos, it is sometime almost hitting you how beautiful this island can be. there is actually a good reason why it is so popular among tourist that seek for nature beauty, birdwatching and to come to ease. this part of the island is still there, even if some of it is now facing this crisis, but even in these parts of the island you just go around the next corner, stop and think: “wow, thats beautiful!”
Post link
One of our favorite authors and public figures, John Green has been doing some great work in the refugee camps of Jordan this week.
Not only has he written The Fault in our Stars, Paper Towns and Looking For Alaska (to name a few), he and his brother continuously work on projects to make the whole world a better place. From their daily vlogs (vlogbrothers), to Crash Course (their Youtube program exploring various educational topics), to VidCon to the charity works done by the Project for Awesome and by the ‘NerdFighter’ community - John Green is truly a great human being
Thank you, John, for exploring, explaining and supporting important global issues. DFTBA (Don’t Forget To Be Awesome)
Post link
