“With food poverty running rampant in Vial refugee camp on Chios island and in Athens, we want to help people without the means to prepare a delicious meal for their families that gives them a sense and taste of home.”

During our recent visit to Greece, Ruhi Akhtar, founder of Refugee Biriyani & Bananas, shares with us the importance of Ramadan – the most important festival in the Islamic calendar – and how her and the team try to make it a little bit more special for refugees during the current hunger crisis.

“In Greece, at Refugee Biriyani & Bananas we are in full swing prepping for this year’s Ramadan distributions. Expected to start early March, Ramadan is the most important Islamic festival, with a large population of the communities we serve fasting from sunrise to sunset throughout the month. It’s a really special time for everyone: a time of sharing, giving and practicing faith and traditions. With food poverty running rampant in Vial refugee camp on Chios island and in Athens, we want to help people without the means to prepare a delicious meal for their families that gives them a sense and taste of home. Even though, according to Islam, you don’t have to fast when you are in a difficult situation, we find that most people still do. There is nothing at all organised or provided by the government or ministry, and I’ve been shown photos of the food people get on a daily basis. It is often with very low nutritional value, and I’ve even seen evidence of food with mould or maggots served. People have to wait in a 2-hour line to receive their measly daily portions.

“We do it differently – we do outreach with volunteers from the refugee community. We work with a ticketing and registration system in camps, squats, hospitals and other precarious housing situations. This means nobody gets left behind and we distribute with dignity, without long lines. It also means that the community receive the food they like and find familiar because we are constantly asking for feedback. In Athens we are able to provide supermarket vouchers so people can do their own shop, and on Chios we provide curated food packs containing essentials like basmati rice, vegetable oil, pasta, flour sugar, tea & coffee, lentils, chickpeas, tinned fish and halal chicken, jam and a hot favourite: an XL bottle of pepsi! All for just £30 per adult for the month. Of course, the members of the community who are not Muslim are served exactly the same as it is vital that everyone gets the same treatment.

“We also give dates because they’re a staple food in the Middle East and traditional for breaking the fast with. Fasting can sometimes cause headaches, lethargy and low blood sugar (all the more prevalent within the refugee community living in camps), and dates are a great source of fibre, sugar, magnesium, potassium, and have carbohydrates to help the body combat these symptoms. Besides the health benefits, dates are a sweet and tasty treat liked by most. They also have a symbolic meaning for the Muslim community, because traditionally it’s how the prophet Mohammed would break his fast.  

“We always hope we’ll be able to hand out presents to the children at the end of Eid – the big celebration at the end of Ramadan. Simple gifts like colouring books and a small bar of chocolate make such a difference. Sadly, it may not be possible this year with the current lack of funding that we and all grassroot groups in Greece are currently suffering from. Our community volunteers are inside the camps already hard at work collecting data and setting up the ticketing system. The cost is huge, but so are the rewards. The celebration of Eid festival for Muslims is the equivalent of Christmas in the Christian world. We want to make sure that people feel included and cared for. It’s also a special time for our team to connect and celebrate with the community. We really put a lot of thought and love into our special Ramadan packs, to replicate a little bit of the celebrations they are used to!”