Informal refugee camp in Athens. Photo: EmbiricosThe on-going “Migrant Crisis” in Calais has dominated the front pages of every major British newspaper, and swept through social media newsfeeds. No doubt, the 3,000 or so migrants waiting for a chance to attempt to cross the English channel is cause for concern, not least because they represent the failure of a system designed to help them. Troubling also, is the stigmatising rhetoric employed by British media and politicians designating those attempting the crossing as a threat to the UK, and the shocking lack of context with which the problem in Calais is portrayed.
The wider context of refugees arriving in the rest of Europe has taken a back seat in light of amped up security around Calais, with £7m dedicated to building a fence between the slums of the Jungle and the main roads to the port and the Eurotunnel. Yet the situation in Calais is only a fraction of the problem. The issue extends in far beyond our island home.
In Athens, grassroots initiatives continue to do what they can for vulnerable refugees living in makeshift camps, but the situation is becoming completely untenable. Greece alone faces an unprecedented number of refugees landing on its island beaches. Over a thousand daily have been arriving on the shores of Mitiline over the last weeks, with those lucky enough to make the crossing filtering into Athens to live on the streets.
