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by.milene

An earthquake, a fire destroying two tents & a pol

An earthquake, a fire destroying two tents & a police raid in the tent... I’ve been back for three days now and they haven’t been quiet days.

Days of laughter, of tears and of lots of love ❤️ It’s an emotional rollercoaster. But it’s nothing compared to what these people go through.

There are over 7.000 people living in Moria 2.0., about 40 toilets which are emptied and cleaned once a day, there is no hot water to shower and no privacy. Schools aren’t allowed in the camp, neither are photographers and journalists.

The tents are placed too close to each other, not only is that dangerous when there is a fire, also corona can be spread very easily. There is a closed area for people tested positive with corona, however families of people positive with corona stay in their tent without having to go into quarantine. Besides, if you have a headache, or ask for painkillers due to pain in your back, stomach or wherever they will also put you in the closed area. People dare not to ask for medicine anymore.

Every day food is distributed which consists of rice, potatoes, apples and bread. No vegetables and only one bottle of water per person. Sometimes the food is passed due date, often it is food we Europeans eat but they have no idea what to do with it. For example: smelly blue cheese. I think it’s delicious, they think it’s not healthy to eat.

People are allowed to go out of the camp from 7AM to 7PM, with the exception of Sundays. On Sundays they aren’t allowed to go out at all.

That’s Moria 2.0! Is it any better than before? “The only things that is better is safety. It’s more safe now because the police is everywhere. They control the gate and when there is a fight they respond. But that’s it”.
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#FacesofRefugees #StoriesofLesvos
#refugee #refugees #refugeecrisis #refugeecamp #europe #mensenrechten #people #humanity #becausepeoplematter #peoplematter #onelove #refugeeswelcome #refugeechildren #refugeestories #lesvos #greece #unitednations #vluchtelingen #europeancommission #immigration #migrants #photographer #photograph #humansofmoria #sosmoria #leavenoonebehind #Europe #humanrights

Since April this year, Germany has admitted a tota

Since April this year, Germany has admitted a total of 1,075 migrants, refugees and asylum seekers from Greece. This is exceeding the numbers it had committed to before. These relocation flights have been landing almost weekly in recent months.

In March 2020 the German government had agreed to allow almost 1,000 migrants and refugees from the camps of the Greek islands. About a quarter of them were children and young people in need of treatment.

Italy and France also started receiving people. However, there are still more than 7.000 people living in Moria 2.0 on Lesvos. For now it is still sunny, but the temperature is getting colder, the wind is getting more chilly and the sun less warm. We need to relocate all of these people before winter starts.

How do you think we can make this relaction happen before winter? Share your ideas below and lets inspire each other 💪
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#FacesofRefugees #RefugeeStories #refugees #refugeeswelcome #refugee #humanrights #syria #withrefugees #immigration #children #migrants #migration #asylumseekers #love #immigrants #humanity #refugeecamp #charity #refugeecrisis #humanitarian #unhcr #peace #war #help #refugeechildren #homeless #everydayrefugees #photography #Europe

Unexpected friends are the best ones. Though we ar

Unexpected friends are the best ones. Though we are more than friends, we are like family. Sharing the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the smiles and the tears ❤️

#love #friends #family #weareallrefugees #humans #humanity #missingyou

The sea is cold, the breeze is chilly and the morn

The sea is cold, the breeze is chilly and the morning sun isn’t warm enough, but not washing yourself is not an option.

There are about 40 places in the camp now where you can take a shower. Well, it’s not really a shower: you have to get cold water yourself, walk to the Dixies and take a bath. But you’ve got some privacy. Women and children are the priority. Therefore men are only allowed to “take a shower” after five.

“Milene, if you can do one thing for me, only one thing. It’s that I would like to take a warm shower in a hotel. Just a warm shower, that’s all”.

Once again the single men are left behind. Of course men can have showers outside easier, but winter is coming people! Let’s not forget that men are also not able to shower in the sea when it’s freezing. Let’s not forget they have run from war, torture and death too. Let’s not forget that all human beings have the right to a shower and privacy, no matter your gender or age.

And you know? There are many constructional engineers, many builders, many smart men in the camp with ideas, motivation and energy to built showers themselves. I’ve seen drawings, listened to good ideas, discussed the options. If only residents were allowed to work. But they are not, it’s up to the Greek government and the NGO’s who think what they do is what the people want. I’ve heard different.

And I wonder, is placing Dixies to have a shower the solution? Should NGOs even be helping to built this camp and make it lasting instead of temporarily? I think there is only one solution: don’t rebuilt Moria! Let’s get them out of here.
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#FacesofRefugees #StoriesofLesvos
#refugee #refugees #refugeecrisis #refugeecamp #europe #mensenrechten #people #humanity #becausepeoplematter #peoplematter #onelove #refugeeswelcome #refugeechildren #refugeestories #lesvos #greece #unitednations #vluchtelingen #europeancommission #immigration #migrants #photographer #photograph #humansofmoria #sosmoria #leavenoonebehind #Europe #humanrights

There are more than 25 million refugees worldwide.

There are more than 25 million refugees worldwide. More than 11 million of them are children.

Refugee children are among the most vulnerable in the world. Every day, they risk loss of some kind, including the loss of the future that every child deserves.

While homes and possessions can be replaced, children are irreplaceable. Many refugee children have been injured escaping their homeland. Others have been orphaned or lost brothers and sisters - robbing them of a happy childhood.

Four million refugee children around the world are currently out of school, leaving them increasingly vulnerable to discrimination and potential abuse, as well as exploitation by traffickers, or the pressure of entering into early marriage 😢

We have to protect these children, we have to make sure the children are NOT the victims of politics, of the rules and regulations made somewhere in a room far away from the crisis.
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#FacesofRefugees #RefugeeStories #refugees #refugeeswelcome #refugee #humanrights #syria #withrefugees #immigration #children #migrants #migration #asylumseekers #love #immigrants #humanity #refugeecamp #charity #refugeecrisis #humanitarian #unhcr #SafeCountry #Turkey #LeaveNoOneBehind #refugeechildren #homeless #everydayrefugees #photography #europe #asylumrequest

Remember, that deep inside the hearts of each and

Remember, that deep inside the hearts of each and every one of us
we are all always reaching for a place that we can call home ❤️
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#FacesofRefugees #StoriesofLesvos
#refugee #refugees #refugeecrisis #refugeecamp #europe #mensenrechten #people #humanity #becausepeoplematter #peoplematter #onelove #refugeeswelcome #refugeechildren #refugeestories #lesvos #greece #unitednations #vluchtelingen #europeancommission #immigration #migrants #photographer #photograph #humansofmoria #sosmoria #leavenoonebehind #Europe #humanrightsactivist

I'll cut right to the chase today. The failure of

I'll cut right to the chase today. The failure of Greece and the EU to establish coherent and humane refugee policies means many languish in appalling conditions as they try to navigate the asylum process and access critical protection.

The already dire situation has evolved rapidly in 2020. First, Greece unlawfully suspended access to asylum in response to a Turkish ploy to send refugees into the European Union. Soon after, the coronavirus plunged the world into a public health crisis that put displaced communities at disproportionate risk. Greece's strong initial response to the pandemic helped avert a humanitarian disaster in its refugee camps. But along with the praise came damning reports of authorities using aggressive, illegal tactics to keep asylum seekers and migrants away.

And also, the Greek authorities have used illegal tactics at Greece's land borders, allowed conditions to deteriorate in other island and mainland camps, failed to help struggling refugees to resettle in Greece, and undercut efforts by civil society to fill gaps in the government's response. This approach has inflamed tensions with host communities and forfeited benefits to be gained by better integrating refugees.

I never knew human rights only replied to European citizens 😢
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#FacesofRefugees #StoriesofLesvos
#refugee #refugees #refugeecrisis #refugeecamp #europe #mensenrechten #people #humanity #becausepeoplematter #peoplematter #onelove #refugeeswelcome #refugeechildren #refugeestories #lesvos #greece #unitednations #vluchtelingen #europeancommission #immigration #migrants #photographer #photograph #humansofmoria #sosmoria #leavenoonebehind #Europe #humanrights

Whenever I am on Lesvos I share many hours with my

Whenever I am on Lesvos I share many hours with my friends. That includes moments that we eat and drink coffee, moments that we play and moments that we chat with the neighbours. But it also includes moments of boredom, of doing absolutely nothing. Well, you can guess, in a refugee camp that's most of the time.

In the lecture I recently gave I talked about this. I talked about my work as a photographer. Because I'd like to go more in dept, I want to take the photos that really tell how it is to live in a camp, to show whats beyond the first impression, what's happening inside the tent, behind the curtains. I want to become part of a family it also means that I often do what they do. Cooking, cleaning, teaching, playing, sitting, but mostly doing nothing.

Is there anything you'd like to know about my work as a photographer? Let me know below, or via a DM.
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#Photography #Photographer #DocumentaryPhotographer #DocumentaryPhotography #humanitarian #HumanitarianPhotographer #Family #refugee #social #photographers #photooftheday #lifeofaphotographer #Love #Friends #Behindthescenes #migrants #migration #asylumseekers #migrantrights #humanrights #mensenrechten #mensenrechtenfotograaf #fotografie #fotograaf

This is Umm Talal, she is 67 years old. We met in

This is Umm Talal, she is 67 years old. We met in Moria when she was living under horrible conditions but still produced a smile. For a week she slept on the street and now in the new camp. Today I want to tell her story (with her consent of course).

Umm left Syria after her husband was killed in the war, right in front of her and her children’s eyes. During this moment she was hurt in her left hand.

She was forced to flee to safety with some of her family members. Her uncle and four daughters stayed behind. Her sons went with her as they were in danger as well. Due to the injury Umm had difficulties on the road and no good medical aid. But she not only has physical injuries. Ever since the moment her husband got killed she suffers from epileptic seizures. This only got worse when they arrived on Lesvos. Mainly because they live in horrific conditions and the asylum procedure that takes forever.

Her sons got rejected quite soon after arriving on Lesvos. One was even imprisoned because of his rejection.

She told me that her life has become increasingly difficult. The sons who fled Syria with her, are taken away from her. She had ten children, some are death, others are still in Syria and now even on Lesvos they are trying to separate them from her.

“I sometimes wish I was killed next to my husband”.

For eleven months she is on the Greek island and she doesn’t know for how long she can take it. She is constantly taken to medical care because of her injuries and mental health issues. “How can I live in a place where I cannot hide from the heat of the sun or the cold of winter? How can I stay in a place which is constantly trying to take my sons away from me? Where and when can I finally find some rest?”

This is the story of Umm Talal, a wonderful sweet woman who shouldn’t have to endure this.
Open hearts and share her story 🧡
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#FacesofRefugees #RefugeeStories #refugees #refugeeswelcome #refugee #humanrights #syria #withrefugees #immigration #migrants #migration #asylumseekers #love #immigrants #humanity #refugeecamp #charity #refugeecrisis #humanitarian #unhcr #peace #war #help #homeless #everydayrefugees #photography #Europe #grandmother

It’s 1899 when my grand grandfather was born in

It’s 1899 when my grand grandfather was born in #Russia. His family had to flee and while searching safety they ended up in The Netherlands. Little did they know that the Netherlands was far from safe.

It’s 1942 when his three sisters were taken to Auschwitz and killed immediately upon arrival. In 1944 his nephew was brought to camp #Westerbork (aged 15) where he stayed in barrack 35. A week later he was deported ‘Eastwards’ and killed somewhere in Mid Europe. My grand grandfather would never find out where.

Another sister was brought to #Auschwitz in a train packed with people. For two days they were standing in the train without food, water and anything else. Upon arrival she was killed on the spot. My grand grandfather also had two brothers and would never find out where they ended up. Were they still alive or also killed? We still don’t know.

A family ripped apart, broken, never to be whole again. My grand grandfather survived the #holocaust but he would never be the same.

He married my grand grandmother in The Hague, gave birth to my grandmother, whom gave birth to my mother and here I am. Four generations and 82 years later but not much has changed. My family risked everything to find safety while being hunted by wolves. And there was no country that wanted to deal with the #Jewish refugees. At the Evian Conference in July 1938, only the Dominican Republic stated that it was prepared to admit significant numbers of refugees.

😤 Nobody wanted refugees then and nobody wants them now.

This is where I come from, this is why I do what I do, this is why my blood boils when seeing and hearing the injustice done upon people who seek refuge. People who would never ever face the treacherous sea if there was another way. The story of my family is what drives me to show the wrong in this world, that refugees are people too and to bring about change.

What drives you? Let me know 👇
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#Refugeecrisis #refugees #refugeeswelcome #leavenoonebehind #sosmoria #evacuatelesvos #jewishpeople #Europe #history #throwback #jewishlife #family #immigrants #asylumseekers #asylum #luck #refugeestories #vluchtelingen #photographer #documentaryphotographer #photojournalism

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