Perspective. This is the Greek island of Chios as I left on Saturday morning. Contrary to the lively capital, Chios Town, I saw how barren, inhospitable and sparsely populated the island is.
A quick search says Chios has a population <31,500 people with 86% living in Chios Town. So, when you’re elsewhere on the island there’s only another 4,500 people you might meet!
I hadn’t had this view of Chios before – Saturday’s early morning weather and flight path gifted it to me. And as I was looking down at Chios I was thinking about all the people making the dinghy crossing from neighbouring Türkiye – which you can see in the background – and how remote and inhospitable it must be when they land.
People want their families and themselves out of those overcrowded dinghies as soon as possible. They don’t wait for a harbour, a beach, or a town to land near (like we might if we hired a boat as tourists). They land at the first opportunity.
The land closest to Türkiye is the land farthest away in this photo and it’s no wonder we commonly hear it called “the jungle”.
On forRefugees Facebook page we regularly post on behalf of people who’ve arrived on Chios, or another island, supporting them in asking for help and recording their arrival in Europe. Refugees are young, old, pregnant or with new babies. We’ve reported on new arrivals who have diabetes, a baby with a feeding tube, someone on dialysis, amputees, double amputees, wheelchair users, even an older lady with a broken ankle so far only wrapped in a plastic bag.
No matter their physical or mental health, this is where people land. They’ll have little food and water and nothing to shelter from the extreme weather – which is very hot in summer and cold, wet and windy in winter. New arrivals are often forced to climb because the coast line can’t be reached by road (remember pregnant, amputees, broken ankles…). The conditions make it really important they’re rescued by the police as quickly as possible, but lots of things get in the way.
Fear. They’re scared to call the police in case of mistreatment and acute fear of being “pushed back” to Türkiye. They also need to have enough phone batteries and be somewhere with ok mobile reception. Then the close proximity to Türkiye means dialling 112 for the emergency services sometimes initiates a Turkish response, instead of a Greek one!
I can only imagine the desperation and courage it takes to cross the sea in an overcrowded dinghy to an alien land that’s also remote and barren. Despite my years of helping I still find it unimaginable – and unforgivable – that families and individuals are forced into dangers like this because Europe (including UK) can’t face its own racism and also face up to its humanitarian and global responsibilities 
.
Imagine it’s you with your family! We should do for others as we would want for ourselves! Something every religion teaches, right?!
