December 2015 – Photography copyright Brian Rutter
Beach Rescues – The Lesvos coastline bears testament to the scale of the refugee crisis. The shoreline is littered with abandoned life jackets, wrecked boats and pop up reception centres where medical aid, dry clothing and food is distributed by NGOs and volunteers.
Kara Tepe Transit Camp – Overlooking the eastern seaboard of Lesvos sits Kara Tepe transit camp. Throughout 2015, as increasing numbers of refugees arrived on Lesvos, NGOs established infrastructure in Kara Tepe to ensure that (primarily Syrian) refugees could be processed.
Pikpa Solidarity Camp – Volunteers care for the most vulnerable refugees in a self managed environment, deploying their varied skills as and how they are best required.
Moria Refugee Camp – Below are a series of photographs from Camp Moria and the surrounding Olive Grove – where refugees are segregated by their origin and transit to the port at Mytilene.
The Art Tent where the refugee children tell their stories…sadly their drawings depict their recent traumatic experiences on land and sea.
The images below are of “Afghan Hill” / The Olive Grove outside Camp Moria where all nationalities other than Syrians are housed temporarily. Until late 2015 the conditions in this makeshift camp were intolerable. Now tents have been erected providing some protection from the elements. Basic sanitary facilities exist. Clothing and food distribution is a 24 hour job for the volunteers.
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