Meanwhile, In Lesbos [Updated]

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Photojournalist Michael Trammer being attacked on Lesvos island in Greece yesterday while a woman tried to help him

Violence has escalated on the island of Lesvos in Greece since Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “open the doors” for migrants to enter Europe. His announcement late last week followed the death of 33 Turkish soldiers in an air strike in Idlib province in northwestern Syria.

Since then there have been reports of an increase in refugees and migrants arriving in Lesvos with some telling journalists that they were offered a free boat ride, while it’s elsewhere being reported that guards on Greece’s northeastern land border with Turkey used tear gas to stop refugees and migrants from entering Greece.

In turn there have been reports of volunteers and journalists being attacked by people who don’t want refugees on the island. Irish GP Dr Nicola Cochrane, volunteering at the overcrowded Moria refugee camp in Lesbos, which has a capacity for 3,000 people but where more than 20,000 people are now residing, has told The Irish Times about how she was targeted by a group of men with “planks of wood and baseball bats” yesterday.

The Hope Project, run by Eric and Philippa Kempson on Lesvos provides support for refugees on the island which overlooks the Aegean Sea and the Turkish coastline from its northern border.

They write:

We have woken up in full fascist Greece today. The events of the last days have been hard to comprehend. All foreigners are now living in fear.

Yesterday refugees were attacked along with journalists and volunteers. It’s hard to explain the fear of the mob until you experience it. Many people are utterly traumatized.

All rescue groups have stood down through fear for their safety.

The mayor of Mytilene has refused to allow refugees to be transported from the north to Moria. The result of this is that refugees arriving are left on the shore with no help and no where to go. With no food or water in wet clothes.

The residents burned down stage two transit camp last night. Volunteers were attacked by gangs with bats and chains!

Some volunteers were unable to return to their homes because of mobs of angry people blocking roads. The government of Greece has basically suspended all human rights!!

The Hope Project will remain closed today and untill we can guarantee the safety of the refugees attending. A sad and scary time.

The Hope Project (Facebook)

Pics: Dromografos

Meanwhile…

Update:

Lesbos fears repeat of 2015 as refugees head for Greek island (The Guardian)

Clashes as thousands gather at Turkish border to enter Greece (The Guardian)

Caoimhe Butterly: Inside the refugee camp (The Irish Examiner)

Previously: Lawless Lesbos

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49 thoughts on “Meanwhile, In Lesbos [Updated]

  1. Wells

    NGOs can GTFO.

    Only traitors facilitate and excuse the invasion of their homelands.

    The Greek people have had enough of been trampled on by their own state forces.

    Are you watching Globalist SFFFFGSDG?

    Is this the rock you too will die on?

    And for what? A pat on the back from the EUUNGS?

    1. Matt Pilates

      It’s quite useful to press lightly only once on each key.

      As for drinking while on the Internet, well …..

  2. Eddie Shanley

    Even ignoring Godwin’s law this guy is wrong on so many levels. These people are trying to protect their way of life. It’s as legitimate as those fleeing conflict. By arriving in Greece they are starting a new conflict. Calling them fascists cheapens the word.

    1. Rob_G

      They are (i) dressed all in black, and (ii) beating up people whom they disagree with; I think ‘fascists’ is right on the money.

      1. Scundered

        Ha yeah rather like Antifa, however this isn’t just a matter of people you disagree with, the question is really how much migration do you think is ok, what is the cut off point? How do you measure that? The violence is deplorable but understand the frustrations of people seeing their tourism industry smashed, which they rely on to survive.

        1. Rob_G

          Ha yeah rather like Antifa,”

          Odd whataboutery…

          …question is really how much migration do you think is ok, what is the cut off point?”

          This is a fair point; perhaps there is too much migration. However, if one feels that there is too much migration, the appropriate response isn’t to beat up journalists.

          1. Scundered

            With the world’s media being very left wing today, existing to serve the virtue signallers, they see journalists as part of the problem too. Doesn’t excuse the violence of course.

  3. Charger Salmons

    Fortunately the Greek villa I have booked for a summer sojourn is well away from the hellhole that Lesbos has become in recent years.
    I feel sorry for the Greeks.
    In Athens last summer I couldn’t believe how bad the situation had become with local parks infested with migrants and some parts of the city no-go areas for police.
    Frau Merkel has a lot to answer for.

    1. Charger Salmons

      By the way if anyone is bound for the Aegean this summer I highly recommend Matt Barrett’s travel guides.
      I’ve been using them for years pottering around the islands.
      Koufonissia in particular is a hidden gem we discovered a couple of years ago.Like Greek islands used to be before mass tourism.
      Marvellous.
      http://www.greektravel.com

    2. Brother Barnabas

      despite your protestations, charger, you give yourself away when you use a word like “infested”

      the mask always slips

        1. Brother Barnabas

          i’m not policing anyone’s thoughts

          I’m commenting on the fact that charger uses a word that by definition refers to unwanted vermin and destructive animals (pointedly not humans) when referring to migrants

          it gives an insight into his thinking

          1. Charger Salmons

            Listen Walter O’Mitty, if we have to put up you boasting of your prowess at cunnilingus then a little metaphorical exaggeration won’t do anyone any harm.

          2. Brother Barnabas

            it’s chaps like me who put a smile on the likes of madam charger’s face

            you should be thanking me

          3. Charger Salmons

            How accurately does Madam Barnabas’ smile reflect the picture on the box she came in ?

      1. Charger Salmons

        No other word to describe the situation Brother.
        The police and local authorities appear powerless to act, serious crime is rampant
        and gazing down from my hotel onto one of the parks it was the first word that came to mind.
        And this is in a capital city already reeling from years of depravation and civil unrest.
        Such a shame.
        But a salutory lesson to all the open border buffoons.

        1. Brother Barnabas

          how about “local parks *crowded* with migrants…”

          or thronged, packed, jammed, crammed, filled, overflowing, congested, occupied, packed, congested, cramped, overcrowded, full, filled to capacity, full to bursting, overfull, overflowing, teeming, thronged, overpeopled, stuffed, jam-packed, chock-a-block, chock-full, bursting at the seams, bulging at the seams, full to the gunwales, wall-to-wall

          or any word other that doesn’t reduce these people to the level of filthy unwanted vermin

      2. Lobster

        Charger is a troll who just goes online to rile people up. Somehow that filth doesn’t trigger the rude word filter, perhaps a common decency one is needed?
        If you’re happy to say things like that just to get a reaction, you can’t see anything too wrong with saying them in any case.
        Which is why I would think quite poorly of him and all the rest of his trolling ilk.

        1. millie vanilly strikes again

          I read his rants in the ‘old man shouting at cloud’ voice and suddenly all his buffoonery becomes so much funnier.

          1. f_lawless

            Probably wouldn’t insult a fly in real life. I picture an emotionally repressed person, maybe resentful towards his partner and the circumstances he’s wound up in – ie. living over in Ireland. The antagonistic online alter-ego he’s adopted is probably a cry for attention and his way of lashing out at the world . ;)

          2. Lobster

            I see where you’re coming from, but to me on the one hand, it seems like spending all day every day trying to get attention from strangers online is a desperate and pitiable cry for help, that can never be answered due to the anonymous nature of the forum.
            On the other I’m afraid that this type of trolling breeds polarisation in our society.
            I don’t think it’s healthy for the individual or for the rest of us

  4. Matt Pilates

    Actually, that looks like Coliemore Harbour with Dalkey Island in the background.

    Probably Blackrock College SCT supporters having a go at Clongowes.

    But the weather is odd.

    “My father can beat up your father, etc)

  5. some old queen

    There is apparently 25 000 mainly adult men bussed to the border, most of whom are not Syrian, some released from prison. That is not migration that is an invasion- an act of war. Erdoğan has been threatening this for quite some time. The hashtag ‘I stand with Greece’ will give you better understanding of the other side to this story.

    Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the prime minister of Greece has just tweeted ” EU Commission President @vonderleyen and @EP_President David Sassoli will join @eucopresident Charles Michel and me tomorrow on the Greek-Turkish land border. Important statement of support by all 3 institutions at a time when Greece is successfully defending EU borders.”

      1. some old queen

        When promoting ‘The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam’ book- Douglas Murray predicted this weaponisation of migration from Erdoğan. And if he knew, you can be certain that the Greek authorities and the EU knew, which is why they could swing into action so quickly now.

  6. class wario

    By making the lives of refugees a bargaining chip in the first place, the EU has basically allowed Erdogan to do this.

  7. fred

    “Rescue groups?”

    Get a grip, majority of so called refugees are not seeking refuge. The Eu needs to help Greece secure it’s borders.

    1. Kim The Cardassian

      Yeah you’re right, they’re just passionate about seeking some decent Greek food. I mean, wouldn’t you get on a death defying boat voyage just so you could have the best Moussaka in Europe?

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