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“Some people say Mohammad, you’re crazy, you’re stupid,” said Mohammad, a refugee on the Greek island of Chios. “But look: I am human. Yes, maybe it won’t change a thing. But I’m no animal. I do think about my future. I do and I try.” For the last 40 days he has chosen to enact a peaceful protest outside the gates of Vial, an abandoned aluminium factory now serving as the EU’s ‘hotspot’ on the island. This is where the fates of hundreds of refugees like Mohammad are being decided by Greek and EU asylum officers.
Mohammad, 26 years old, fled his home town of Deir ez Zoar, Syria in early March last year. He crossed the Turkish border and two weeks later found himself stepping onto an inflatable boat with 43 other refugees and a heart filled with hope of finding safety in Europe. While Mohammad and his travel companions didn’t know it at the time, they arrived on 20 March, the day the EU-Turkey deal came into effect. Refugees were now prevented from leaving the Greek islands for the mainland, and the borders to the rest of Europe had shut.
