“On March 20th, the EU made a deal with Turkey, for every Syrian sent back to Turkey from Greece, Turkey would send another Syrian in their camps to Europe. They can voluntarily accept up to 72,000 refugees in Europe. How many do they have to accept?” asks Kim, one of the missionaries the Lord sent to Lesvos, Greece to help during the refugee crisis here.
They don’t have to accept any. It is voluntary.
During our training on day one in Greece, Kim continued to go down the list of statistics he had gathered for us.
- In 2015 alone, more than 500,000 refugees fled to Lesvos, Greece
- The island only has a population of 84,000
- 12,000 is the number of refugees to come over in one day to the island
- 50 – 150 people are crammed onto each black rubber boat made for 20 – 30 people
- $1,500 – $1,800 is the price the refugees pay to come over on these overcrowded boats
- Over 150,000 life jackets are piled in life jacket graveyard. This pile has been cleaned out 3 or 4 times since its beginning.
- Deadly life jackets fill this pile because 75% of them are not real. They are filled with fake foam that actually sinks once it hits water.
- There are several refugee camps on the island, but only one that can hold more than a few hundred refugees, Moria.
- Moria’s capacity is 3,000 people, but there are currently 4,000 refugees there.
- 2,000 is the average number of refugees who came over to Lesvos in a day for months during late 2015 and early 2016.
“So if the capacity of Moria is 3,000, then where did the people go when there were thousands of people coming to the island each day?” I ask Reid, our ministry host for the month on the island.
“Anywhere, everywhere. They were sleeping in fields and on roads. There were 3,000 people at Stage 2 Camp, Skala,” he says to me. Knowing that Skala is only made for a few hundred people, this is just impossible to picture or understand. Wow. I really had no idea what to expect when we set out from Bogota, Colombia to Lesvos, Greece to help with the refugee crisis.
I didn’t know that we would come across people of 25 different nationalities in Moria, the majority of whom are running from some type of war or persecution in their home country.
I didn’t know that the majority of these people actually wanted to stay at home in their home country, but they were given no choice when the violence reached a level that was no longer safe for their families.
I didn’t know that the largest city in Syria, Aleppo, has been 75% demolished and the government in Syria intentionally attacks their own citizens, bombing them into obedience.
I didn’t know that the young single men running are actually running from Isis so that they don’t get forcefully recruited to become terrorists. In deporting them back home, we actually create more terrorists.
I had no idea that these people, refugees from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and 21 other countries, would teach ME about hospitality, about kindness, and about patience in hopeless situations.
I had no idea that the refugees would humble me, challenge me, and inspire me to love more.
As I walk through Moria:
A woman smiles, saying hello.
A child clings to my legs, not letting go.
A man asks for a blanket for his baby.
We don’t have any. I have to say no.
A woman asks for two diapers and cream.
“No cream, only diapers,” I say as I lean.
“A tent to sleep in for the night?”
One man asks. He must be a teen.
“I have holes in my shoes.”
Men start coming to me in Two’s.
“I need a shirt,” another many says.
Shoes. Shirt. How can I choose?
Hundreds line up for food,
Waiting patiently, not being rude.
They may get dinner. They may not.
This changes the way they are viewed.
They invite me to come inside.
Their stories with me they confide.
Death, disease, and war they have fled.
It seems they have had an invisible guide.
Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq,
These people are refugees. They cannot go back.
On to Germany. On to Sweden.
On to Europe to find their freedom!
But alas, they are trapped in Greece.
All they want is a little peace.
Many unknowingly will go back,
To Turkey, to Syria, where wars don’t cease.
There must be a reason you see,
That they have come, each refugee.
They have come to the camp at Moria,
Not knowing that inside her is the key.
Servants of the Lord run this camp.
We smile. We love. We are the lamp,
We hold the key to eternity.
To Christ and the Cross, creating a ramp.
They may never make it to Europe,
But in Moria, they can find hope.
They can find truth and salvation,
If they choose to grab this rope.
