Tasos Ioannidis of AMG International says, “Since then, the government has been building another temporary location on the island, which now contains more than 10,000 refugees. They tried to prevent the refugees from leaving the island, they were forcibly contained. The government would not give them the freedom to travel or anything like that.”

In the next few months, Ioannidis says, the government plans on moving more refugees on to the Greek mainland. That’s where AMG will get to work with them. “We work in Athens, and in Thessaloniki, the two biggest cities. We work in a number of locations for the refugees there.”

Roadblocks to the migration process

(Screenshot courtesy of AMG International)

Typically, refugees would move on to the Greek mainland, then travel further into Europe. COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into this normal immigration process. Ioannidis says, “To be honest, right now, most of them are staying in Greece. They will be dispersed throughout Greece eventually and absorbed in local communities.”

Frustration over the slow migration process has been blamed for the Moria fire itself. Several Afghan refugees were charged with starting the fire. Ioannidis says, “The authorities are saying it was a desire from the refugees to force the hand of the government to move them out and to take them to the mainland.”

The refugees in the Moria camp lived in severely cramped and unsanitary conditions with little hope of getting out. Unfortunately, conditions in the new camp aren’t much better.

Pray these refugees can be processed to the Greek mainland and that AMG’s ministry to them will be fruitful. Many refugees have already embraced the Gospel with joy.

The header photo shows a refugee camp in Greece. (Photo by Julie Ricard on Unsplash)

The Greek government maintains the fire was set intentionally and has charged 4 Afghan refugees with the crime. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the fire.

People from over 70 countries sheltered at Moria, though most hail from Afghanistan. Liz Steggall Lewis of TeachBeyond says,  “Presently, the Greek government and army have been working day and night to set up a temporary tent city that’s right there on the Aegean. Right now, that space where they’re setting up UNHCR tents is about 10 times the size of the former camp.”

The Moria refugee camp packed thousands of people into an area about the size of this Walmart. (Image by jimaro morales from Pixabay)

The Moria camp packed thousands of people into a space the size of a Walmart, forcing many to live in squalor and leaving the camp severely vulnerable to COVID-19.

A tense situation

Lewis says, “We’ve in some ways been waiting for something like this to happen, because of the heightened tensions among people there on Lesbos. Those people in the camps really want freedom and they want to be treated with dignity and respect. The local Greeks have felt like the mainland has abandoned them and Greece feels like Europe has abandoned them.”

These refugees should be heading to the European mainland, but that’s not happening quickly. Lewis lays blame on prevailing attitudes in Europe. “It’s just as we’ve seen, just more anti-immigrant sentiments in Europe.” Many refugees are choosing not to enter the camp, fearing they will be trapped and unable to ever get to Europe. They have been sleeping in rough conditions since the fire, camping on the roads and in olive groves.

Both refugees and locals have begun protesting the situation. They share this goal in common: the refugees need to leave Lesbos and proceed to the European mainland. Pray this will happen, and that many will find hope in Jesus Christ.

The header image shows a protest in Germany after the Moria refugee camp fire. (Photo by noah eleazar on Unsplash)

Children’s education has been disrupted by violence in their home nations and it’s been forgotten as they’ve been forced to flee to refugee camps with poor conditions.

A Lack of Education in Camp Moria

In Greece’s Camp Moria, “there are 1,600 children right now who are there and are school-aged. Of those 1,600, only 400 are having any kind of touchpoint with an educational program,” TeachBeyond’s Liz Steggall-Lewis says.

That’s only a quarter of the children who are receiving an education.

“There is just a desperate need for these children to receive an education, an education that is ground and builds character, and really teaches things like love and forgiveness.”

These children have been traumatized by witnessing violence both in their home countries and in the refugee camps.

Specifically, Camp Moria has reached a ‘boiling point’. Violent riots break out on a daily basis in the cramped camp and there have been sexual assaults. Children are witnessing all of these actions and only knowing hate and strife.

The need for an education based on love is growing.

Conditions in Camp Moria have grown unsafe, however, TeachBeyond is compelled by Christ’s love to be there and to be an influence in children’s lives.

Serving the ‘Least of These’ through Education

“There is such an opportunity. Yes, there’s an opportunity for radicalization, but there’s also an opportunity to come into the living presence of the most radical God who would send His son to Earth to die for us,” Steggall-Lewis says.

“Christ asks us to serve the least of these. He asks us to feed, and to clothe, to bring water, to visit the prisoner, and He says when we do that, we serve Him. And so, I think with education, we see that as an extension.”

TeachBeyond wants to meet the desperate need for an education by starting a school near Camp Moria. But first, they need funds to rent a building and dedicated volunteers who will teach.

Steggall-Lewis shares TeachBeyond has located a nearby building that is within walking distance of the camp.

(Photo courtesy of Gateways2Life)

“We really believe that we need to bring kids and adults out of the camp in order to even be able to provide any kind of education because a safe space is so important.”

This building would be key for starting the school and also for opening doors to a unique curriculum.

“If we can rent this space, we’ll be able to actually implement a curriculum in partnership with an organization called Open Schools Worldwide. The curriculum brings children to grade three standards in literacy and numeracy in a very short amount of time.”

The curriculum has been used effectively with over 50,000 learners throughout Africa. These learners have been children who have had large gaps in their education and experienced intense trauma. Now, this curriculum can be replicated in Greece to impact refugee children.

Steggall-Lewis shares part of the curriculum is to train refugee adults to work with the children.

“We then have access to two groups of people that we can speak into their lives and provide [an] education for.”

Get Involved

TeachBeyond is actively fundraising to rent this building. Further, they’re searching for dedicated volunteers who would be committed to serving on Lesvos long-term.

TeachBeyond will be setting up a two-team rotating model for serving.

For American volunteers, they would serve for 90 days at the school on Lesvos, go to a second placement site for 90 days, then return to Lesvos for a following 90 days to continue teaching. European volunteers, however, will not be constricted by visa restrictions.

Steggall-Lewis says returning is imperative in showing how much volunteers love and are committed to caring for these refugees.

Join TeachBeyond in praying for staff members who are committed to serving. Pray for the refugees, specifically the children who are missing an education, and pray for the provision of funds to rent the building.

Financially partner with TeachBeyond as they work to start this school.

Millions of refugees fled from violent-hit nations like Syria and Iraq in 2015 and 2016.

“At that time, we saw these large numbers coming because Germany had opened its borders and people were coming from war-torn countries, and from countries where they’re displaced because of conflict, or because of the lack of economic opportunities,” TeachBeyond’s Liz Steggall-Lewis says.

When many of the European borders closed, the refugee situation dramatically changed.

“For example, on Lesvos, when people first arrived, they were literally staying just as long as their papers were processed, which they were being processed in a few weeks,” Steggall-Lewis says.

Refugees would then take a boat to Athens and walk to an open European nation.

Upon the closing of borders, the refugee crisis hasn’t disappeared, but it’s altered.

The Continuing Refugee Crisis

Thousands continue to flee to Greece every month, but many are forced to stay in refugee camps for months or years now as they wait for their papers to be processed.

Steggal-Lewis says 19,656 people have arrived at the Grecian islands in 2018, and nearly 2,000 have arrived in the last two months. However, Steggall-Lewis says only 1,173 people have actually transferred to Athens in the last two months.

“People now are finding that they’re staying on the islands on Lesvos for over a year and they’re waiting to get asylum, and the situation is very hopeless for them, but it’s kind of gone off of our radar.”

Before people fled their homelands, they risked their lives every day simply being there. Steggall-Lewis said people didn’t know if their children would make it through the next bomb blast, if their families would come home, and many people would have death threats.

Even now, people are still forced to leave their homes and their occupations because of these horrific conditions.

As people have fled to Europe, they have the idea that their lives will be better. However, Steggall-Lewis says this is not the case when they arrive in Lesvos.

“They’re finding something that’s a completely different picture.”

Steggal-Lewis has been on the ground and interacted with many of the refugee people and their families. She’s heard their heart-breaking stories and how they’re feeling now.

(Photo courtesy of TeachBeyond)

One refugee woman told Steggall-Lewis, “I feel I died in that boat that day and I don’t know who I am anymore. I don’t think any of us know who we are anymore.”

Camp Moria Conditions

Camp Moria is providing little comfort.

The camp is filled with trash and tensions have built and broken between the dozens of ethnic and religious groups. The camp is filled with violent riots and attacks on a daily basis.

The BBC reports the conditions of the camp are so bad that many charities will not work inside of it.

About 70 people are using one toilet and children as young as 10 years old are trying to commit suicide.

The camp, the BBC reports, was never meant to be a place for people to live for extended periods of time. Rather it was meant to be a “reception and identification center”.

Steggall-Lewis says the thousands of people in the camp are living with an unknown future. They don’t know if they’ll be sent to Athens, remain in Greece, or be sent to Turkey.

“They’re just living with this tremendous level of unknown and they are treated like the ‘other’. They’ve suddenly lost their identity and now, they’re a refugee. They’re a burden,” Steggall-Lewis says.

“It’s like utter hopelessness and especially when you have young people who are hopeless and feel like they’ve been betrayed and they’ve been rejected and forgotten, it creates a lot of anger.”

As a result, violence is breaking out on a regular basis and it’s bringing the fear and trauma the people originally fled from back to them.

“Literally, people don’t sleep at night because they’re standing guard over their family, backpack on, ready to run if their tent is burned if a violent riot starts. And so, there’s a level of terror that many of these refugees are still living with.”

Join TeachBeyond

In the midst of these dark circumstances, TeachBeyond is working to bring light by giving an education to children, providing washing machines, and sharing the love of Jesus.

Financially partner with TeachBeyond as they give humanitarian aid and support.

Pray for the safety of refugees in Camp Moria and for a revival of hope.