Conclusion Children, Women and Men

As shared in previous posts: the circumstances of the refugee children, women and men differ significantly. In this section I will summarize each group's situation briefly.

Being a child refugee

Being a child refugee, and part of a family, is the ‘best’ situation you can find yourself in in terms of being taken care of and looked after; especially if you reside in the Caritas hotel. In Caritas there is some education available and there are quite some activities children can participate in. The environment is safe, the rooms are good (what you can expect of basic hotel rooms) and the environment is relatively stable. Being a child in Kara Tepe is ‘not bad’ (given the circumstances), as there is a lot to do (perhaps even too much), there is some teaching (of English) and there are a lot of NGOs trying to make the best out of it for children. Further there is some children-specfic material available, like pencils and coloring sheets, although it must be emphasized that these kids surely don’t live like dukes and princes.

For all in all the situation is still far from optimal, as these children still live in uncertainty, instability and a lack of structure while living in a stressed environment with many family-related and social issues. These children find themselves in a refugee situation with a great lack in professional help and educational facilities – living day by day in a sort of constantly shifting limbo that is marked by rope hopping and coloring sheets.

--- Kara Tepe on the outside

Ending up in a children’s shelter is something I cannot speak of with full clarity as I haven’t been there personally. Additionally there are a lot of shelters with vast differences in quality of living. Regardless, what I can conceptualize and understand after hearing some of the stories of what's going on I think I can paint a picture that comes close to actual reality: probably there are some organized activities and facilities arranged for these children, although the lack of staff is again a serious issue. There is too little individual attention and especially professional help – for these children must find themselves in a very difficult situation being alone and perhaps (probably?) even having lost their parents in their journey towards safety and security. The lack of individual guidance and professional help combined with trauma, instability and loss is about the worst combination you can have being a child. And so it is manifested what is feared and spoken of: children children acting out in an uncontrollable, violent and disorderly way, turning to cheap drugs (like glue-sniffing), and even suffering (sexual) abuse and child-prostitution.

Being a female refugee

can be, all in all, 'ok'. Living in Caritas is safe, relatively luxurious and there are a few activities and some teaching. In Kara Tepe things are more stressful and difficult despite the activities that are organized - as there is less social control, housing is poorer (living in bare containers), isolation is weighing down on a lot of the women, gender- and family based violence is common and sexual aggression is a serious issue. Obviously a lot of women (and men) battle daily with insecurity and monotony through having no clear future perspective and very few possibilities for creating a positive change in their situation. They just have to wait and see what will happen to them.

Being a male refugee

Being a make refugee in Caritas and Kara Tepe is the ‘least preferable’ when it comes to activities, facilities and materials available. While Caritas is relatively good with some activities, there are practically no activities for men in Kara Tepe. You’ll just have to find your own way somehow, passing time in an environment with few to no opportunities to do anything to improve or to escape the situation for yourself or your family. Still, things are much better than in Moria - on which light will be shed in the next series of posts.

Conclusion Caritas and Kara Tepe

As said, things are quite well arranged in Caritas. Being there you’re in one of the best places to be as a refugee on Lesbos as there are heated rooms, regular meals, quite some activities and good security. The ones ending up here are lucky, thanks to the NGO Caritas who made this possible.

--- The outside of the Silver Bay / Caritas Hotel

Kara Tepe is more ambivalent: things are half-way between Caritas and Moria you can say. There are activities (mainly for children, some for women and almost none for men) and the housing is mediocre (living in bare containers). Security is present but lacks in effectiveness and adequacy in some respects: there seems to be too little awareness, control and vigilance on a structural basis. Domestic and sexual violence happens frequently, fights happen and are able to carry on for too long (I have seen a couple just going on and on until the security finally arrived, after 10 minutes or so) and there is drug trading going on in the camp (also among children). The showers are on the cleaner side but warm water runs out quickly. The food is pretty ok (what I heard) and quite effectively organized by an NGO called 'Because We Carry'. Further there is a child protection service headed by 'Save the Children' who does a lot of good in terms of providing shelters and materials, although in some essential ways they are not operating effectively (as for example with identifying and working with problematic and vulnerable cases).

So there are a lot of NGOs trying to do things for the camp the best they can given the circumstances. This is in itself a good ting, yet they do so without effectively communicating and working together – everybody does their own thing in isolation. Opportunities for cooperation are not taken, streamlined and optimized and that is unfortunately proving everyone a disfavor - as this omits the strength there is in cooperation and numbers, benefiting all in the end.

Kara Tepe is run by the municipality of Mytilini (the capitol of Lesbos).

In the next post we will be going into camp Moria, a place where it's pretty much hell on earth in many respects.

If you like my posts about the reality in the refugee camps in Lesbos, Greece, resteem or follow. More to come!