All photographs of Oinofyta refugee camp in Greece. Kaamlieh Hamid/All rights reserved.
While the world fixates on the situation in Aleppo and the plight of the Syrian people, the Afghans, Iranians, Kurds and Pakistanis also making their way to Europe are too often forgotten. Their struggles are ignored by politicians and the international human rights regime, who both operate as the arbiters of their fates in Europe. They often end up in detention and, as European governments seek to deter migration, are subject to increasingly frequent deportation. That makes it even more crucial to tell these people’s stories. This piece is about the Farsi-speaking people of the Oinofyta refugee camp in Greece. It is an attempt to show who they are and why you should care.
Oinofyta refugee camp is one of the main refugee camps in Greece, located an hour north by car from Athens. At first glance, the camp is underwhelming. The scattered tents, trailers, and central factory building-turned shelter make it difficult to believe that there are upwards of 500 people actually living there. An Iranian immigrant who grew up in the United States, I’ve come to the camp in late December 2016 to volunteer as a Farsi translator. The children of the camp quickly notice me, hurling questions while circling their bikes (and wheelbarrow) all around me. My response in Farsi surprises them. “Fekr kardam khareji hastin! (I thought you were a foreigner!)” they exclaim, now uncertain how to size me up.
