/The Leftovers

Five years after the first arrivals of refugees in Lesbos, the reality for thousands of people is still far from a permanent solution. The provisional solution of the Kara Tepe camp, which was supposed to shelter all the inhabitants of Moria after it burned down, hardens the living conditions and restricts the freedom of movement of the refugees. The failure to manage the humanitarian crisis of migrants in the Mediterranean is more evident day by day and less present in the media. The hostility and exhaustion of the local population is rising, and while a few manage to secure asylum, the vast majority continue to be trapped with less and less institutional support. They are increasingly forgotten.

The new measures imposed by the Mitsotakis government cut off aid in the form of money reaching the refugees so that many families must find ways to survive on their own. About 1.5 km from Kara Tepé camp these children fish with bread to help their families by putting food on the table. All along the coast around the camp many people try to get from the sea what they don't get from the authorities.

While only a few get asylum and are transferred to Athens for later transfer to their final destination, most must continue to await their fate. In the camps, scenes of long queues are repeated several times a day. All migrants are thoroughly searched upon entry. The restrictions about what they can bring in and out intensify. 

Ahmad, 15, lives with seven other young people about his age in one of the government's refugee apartments. "It took more than a year and Moria's camp to burn for us to get a roof. Otherwise we would be still living in the camps". Ahmad says that due to the fire in Moria, they are able to live much more dignified lives. Although they all have to share a room the improvement over the previous situation is evident. He has seen how most of the people he met when he arrived are no longer in Lesbos.