the unsung heroes

A big thank you must go to all the coast guards, fishermen, NGOs, volunteers who are selflessly trawling the Aegean, rescuing hundreds from a watery grave.  This video by Giorgos Moutafis shows just a fraction of what these angels of mercy are doing daily.
The Greek islands nearest Turkey are the main port of entry for over 800,000 of the million refugees who entered Europe in 2015 alone, which averages to over 2,000 a day.  This in a Greece suffering its own humanitarian crisis, six painful years of recession, enormous debt, over one and a half million unemployed, 350,000 of its brightest themselves migrants, tens of thousands of homeless.
Please bear this in mind next time you read stories criticising poor conditions and lack of facilities.  Greece's resources are strained to breaking point.  Yet unlike certain other countries, Greece did not put up razor wire fences on its shores to keep them out.  Nor can we stand by and watch these people drown.  Residents of these islands, such as baker Dionysis Arvanitakis, who remembers his own time as a migrant to Australia, are sharing what they can.
Bravo to all of them.

2015 statistics

'More than one million refugees and migrants have reached Europe by sea since the beginning of 2015' according to the UNHCR.  Of these, 'more than 80% (about 844,000) arrived in Greece', mainly on Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and other Greek islands near the Turkish coast.  The remainder mainly arrived in Italy from Lybia.  This is nearly five times as many as in 2014 (216,000).   Around half are from Syria, one fifth from Afghanistan, nearly one in ten from Iraq.
Sadly, 3,735 souls are dead or missing at sea in this year alone, yet this is just a fraction of the human toll.  Over 22,000 deaths of people trying to enter Europe have been documented since 1993 by UNITED.  One was the 32-year-old Syrian/Palestinian father who froze to death exactly one year after getting wet carrying his four-year-old daughter dry on his shoulders to safety across the Evros River onto Greek soil.
Smugglers overload unseaworthy boats and dinghies, and even offer 'bad-weather discounts' with callous disregard for human lives.  One source I found says they charge Syrians USD3,000 for passage to Europe.  So I would estimate their profits at between one and two billion USD per year.  This is money that could have stayed in their home countries to help their families, or that could have been invested in their new adopted countries.  See my previous blog post for my suggestions on processing refugees in country of origin, or at least on Turkish or Lybian land (most set off to cross the Mediterranean from one of these two countries), to prevent their risking their lives at sea while enriching these criminals.
The refugees' exploitation goes deeper than the crossing fees to smugglers.  It includes being sold substandard life-jackets which may actually be causing more drownings.  It continues upon arrival on European soil, by taxi drivers, hotels, canteens etc who overcharge them.  I have seen this with my own eyes, the taxi driver on Samos who was taking us from the airport boasting about the money she was making, the hotel where I was staying at full capacity in winter even taking families to other places for the night.
This exploitation will unfortunately continue in many cases in the countries offering them asylum, as sources of cheap labour.  Germany is the most popular destination, and while I do not wish to cast aspersions on this huge contribution, it is not entirely altruistic.  Other host countries will no doubt also benefit in the long run, just as America, Canada and Australia have grown strong with the labour of the immigrants they have welcomed, provided they are integrated into their new societies, given rights and citizenship.  This would be a better use of resources than the huge sums spent funding Frontex and other ways of keeping them out, such as razor-wire fences.
My blog today has focussed on the monetary aspect of this crisis, because human greed being what it is, profit may move the powers that be where the humanitarian aspect has not.  The photo of little Aylan Kurdi went viral on the web for a few days in September, but what came of it?  He was unfortunately neither the first nor the last.  Let us not forget the hundreds of other children, the thousands of adults who also died less photogenically.  How many more people need to die before something is done?
Migration has been a part of human history since Lucy's descendants spread to Eurasia, if the 'out of Africa' theory is correct. Jesus, whose birth is being celebrated by many these days, was also a refugee, fleeing the murderous intent of King Herod.  Examples are too numerous for this entry, you can read further on your own.
May 2016 be the year when the people smugglers are put out business, when no more lives are lost in the wars, persecutions and poverty that cause refugees in the first place, and in their desperate attempts to find a better life here.  May "Fortress Europe" become a thing of the past.  


Other sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35194360
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34682034
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34131911
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-35091772

Two birds with one stone: save lives, eliminate people smugglers

The refugee situation is escalating into epic proportions.  The photo of little Aylan's dead body on Budrun Beach was the turning point which galvanised Europe and a few other countries such as Australia into accepting more refugees.  However, this is only after they have braved the Mediterranean or long overland route, risking their lives (more than 2,500 drowned so far this year) and having been exploited by people smugglers to get them there.  I propose a simple solution which will eliminate both.

1.  The UNHCR should set up processing posts on the soil of the countries which the refugees are trying to flee.  Where this is not possible due to war or politics, they should anchor large vessels as close as possible within international waters, and supply safe dinghies to ferry people from the shore.
2.  The countries willing to accept refugees should also provide safe legal transport by chartered planes or ships.  Refugees who are able to would pay their fares, which would be set at just their share of the cost of chartering.  This would be a fraction of what they have been paying to people smugglers.

Two immediate benefits: no more people drown, suffocate in lorries or otherwise lose their lives on the way.  And the obscenely lucrative people smuggling rings would be out of business.  Indirect benefits would include the refugees arriving in their host countries with the best part of their savings intact, thus being less of a burden on their hosts, enabling them to make a dignified start in their new lives, perhaps even able to invest this money in their new countries, rather than having lost everything on the way to the smugglers, robbers or in the sea when their boats capsized.

Europe and the other countries which have opened their doors to refugees have done so to all in need, not only to the ones who had the courage to risk the arduous journey, who had the money to pay the smugglers, who knew how to swim or the stamina to walk to their borders.  They should go the extra mile and pick the refugees up from their own places of origin, not expect them to make it to the host country on their own and take only the ones who survive the journey.  Unless they are using this as a warped way of "selecting the fittest"?

This would also ease the burden on the countries where the refugees first arrive, mainly Greece and Italy.  The refugees would be spared the indignity of being held in camps, and the local residents on the most accessible Greek islands such as Lesbos, Kos and Chios would not reach bursting point.

To sum up, apart from the human lives saved, the greatest benefit of my proposal is that the people smugglers would be eliminated.

I have just sent a copy of this to the UNHCR.  If you like this idea, or can improve on it, please write to them too.

Little ways we can help

This morning on FaceBook I shared a couple of links to Greek news stories regarding exploitation of refugees by "clever businesspeople" selling goods such as water, sandwiches and services such as hotel rooms and taxi rides at outrageously overinflated prices.
Perhaps we can counteract these sad incidents by showing our welcome in little ways.  'Ahlan wa sahlan' and 'Merhaba' both mean "welcome" in Arabic--I haven't found much difference online but if you are a Native Speaker of Arabic reading this please enlighten me.  Without words, a smile and a little gesture such as a few sweets or biscuits or some bottles of water won't impoverish us, nor will it necessarily do much to feed them, but it will be a little human gesture that will brighten the day of a few children, perhaps blot out for a few moments the horrors of the war that they have managed to escape.  Or perhaps you have some clothes, shoes or toys your children have outgrown.  If you don't have children, then clothes, underwear or shoes for the women and men.
And of course, there are also so many homeless people, mainly Greeks, who would also welcome a little help.  Since many (though not all) are addicts, a gift in kind (food, clothes, shoes) is probably wiser than money, which would go to supporting the addiction.  I often take the obvious addicts to a bakery or coffee shop to buy them something to eat and drink--at least it will go in their tummies and not up their veins.  Occasionally some have asked me to buy them medicine or band-aids, or to bring them shoes or sandals.  I've seen a few homeless people reading, and they were happy to get books and magazines.
Finally, let's not forget the animals.  I put leftovers suitable for cats or dogs and water outdoors in a spot where they won't annoy my neighbours.  Any stale bread or out-of-date cereal/rice etc goes to the pigeons in the square--soaking bread in water is a good idea, especially in summer where water is so scarce in the streets.  I carry a small tin of cat food in my bag in case I meet a stray.
Please dear Friends, do not reply to this post by telling me how wonderful I am for doing these things.  That's not why I'm posting it.  I just hope I've given a few ideas of little ways we can all help.  We reading FB and blogs are blessed--we have a home with a PC, internet connexion and electricity.  We can afford to share our blessings with others.  While I am more fortunate than many I am not rich, so I look out for specials at supermarkets on packaged, portable things such as croissants and small individual packets of biscuits.  If the budget is tight I buy bags of lollipops.  And there are so many things we can do that cost nothing at all: not throwing leftovers or unwanted clothes/shoes in the rubbish bin, but putting them out for animals or passing them on to less fortunate people.  Maybe I didn't eat all my lunch: instead of carrying the remaining half sandwich or a piece of fruit home, I give it to a homeless person on my way to the bus, or what's not fit for humans, even an apple core, goes to animals.
Please share your own ideas in the comments below.  

A film about the Greek recession

I've just come across this film, which sums up much of what has been happening in Greece in the past six years.  One and a half hours, in two parts (you can skip the first four minutes of Part 2), well worth the time spent.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2015/07/agora-democracy-market-150701120718536.html