Camp Lesbos - Life in the Refugee Camps: III.I. Moria: Environment and Aggression
In previous blogs I described the camps Kara Tepe and Caritas. Also I presented information about the life-situation for refugee men, women and children specifically residing on Lesbos.
This chapter is the first in a series covering the situation in Camp Moria - one of the most notorious refugee camps on earth at the present time. So brace yourself and see the reality of what is going on over there.
MORIA
Now Moria is a very different story from Caritas and Kara Tepe. It is a camp run by the police and military, which are not the organizations most typically known for their qualities of empathy and willingness to take into account the ‘subtleties’ of a situation - as for example the mental state and traumatic histories of the individual. ‘Law and order’ is what matters, and it is to be obeyed. So this is what you'll see in the approach of those that control the camp.
Environment
Moria is a cold, hard place which is focused on control. Almost any attempt at developing something that is not in line with the structure and ideology of a ‘police camp’ is repressed. You can say that Moria breathes the following: ‘People and their behavior need to be contained by strict order and control, and by the creating an environment that is exactly like a prisoner camp, at all times’. Moria is a ‘machine’ running on an ideological system that is designed to contain and repress anything out of the ordinary - or anything human for that matter. It is a ‘dead’ place ornamented with fences, stone, bare cabins, harsh fluorescent light, barbed wire ‘razor style’ and an all-round barrenness. So the environment of Moria sends out a very clear message stating its no-nonsense ideology of containment, repression, control and ‘law and order’.
The only place that has just a little color to it is the women’s/children’s/family compound where the refugees are stored before they are sent through to another camp or place. Here you’ll see some drawings on the containers – and that’s it. The place is shut out from the rest of the camp through a gate which can only be opened by a guard – defnintely creating the feeling of being ‘behind bars’ while you're there.
On one occasion I have seen a woman wanting to get out, shouting, because there was no response of the guards whatsoever. She was there when I walked by initially and still was there shouting when I left the area - which was about 15 minutes late.
In so many respects camp Moria is a place where you don’t want to end up, as the place is just wrong. The depressing, bleak environment and mentioned repression is just part of it.
Aggression
Police violence. An outflow of the strict and controlling police mentality is police violence, which is supposedly common in camp Moria. I actually saw a refugee coming in the medical cabin bleeding out of his ear due to being hit by a policeman. Another story is that one of our (refugee) translators was held by the arms by two policemen while a third repeatedly beat him on the back with a police stick. There are also stories about policemen hitting children - which actually has led to riots inside the camp. And there have been many incidents where the refugees have to stand in a long line CORRECTLY while waiting for their share of food. The ones standing ‘incorrectly’, i.e. outside of the line, were actually beaten back into line again by policemen.
The seemingly random abuse of the refugees and the overall over-reactive response to incidents by the police makes camp Moria a ridiculously repressive place. The refugees, who hate and shun the police, feel fearful, unsafe and unjustly treated like criminals.
Fights. Fights happen regularly in the camp. This is especially due to the tension and stress levels being so high: people can be easily agitated and have a short fuse. Seemingly unimportant things can easily be blown out of proportions, causing tension and aggression between the refugees. And basically anything can be the source for a fight: from a wrongly placed remark to discrimination to fights over resources like money and clothing. The widespread prevalence of psychological issues and abuse of alcohol and drugs obviously doesn’t help to keep people grounded and stabilized, inciting people to get into fights.
Discrimination. Inter-cultural and ethnic/racial/religious differences are a point of concern in Moria. Camp management has taken this into account through with its rough distribution-tactics of refugees over the camp. Different sections are created for different people, where people from more or less the same (regional) origin are put together - although this is done so very roughly. For example: the Bangladeshi and Pakistani are put together into one big tent and so are ‘the Africans’ (e.g. from Mali, Congo, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Somalia, …). So it is unlikely you’ll end up in the Eritrean corner of the tent being an Iraqi. It also seems, which stands to reason, that conflicting nations are separated from each other.
Regardless, many different cultures are forced to live together in relatively small, packed and stressful camp for months on end. So intercultural contact does take place and the negative perception of inter-group differences do occur between groups of refugees, which can lead to discrimination and fights.
Despite the fights most of the people are peaceful, reasonable, and tolerant towards other cultures and each other - and at times standing together as one. This happens for example with demonstrations against their (harsh) Morian treatment and lengthy (and illogical and mismanaged) asylum procedures. Oftentimes I have heard refugees say: “We are all human” and “No one deserves this”. I have experienced the refugees as essentially humanitarians valuing equality in their approach towards others – respecting that all are sharing their own burden of war, poverty and Moria.
Being a refugee in camp Moria is very stressful and burdening. This in combination with the impoverished environment, lack and uncertainty creates a (negative) change in humans – as they develop mental and behavioral problems and the development of ‘second sides’. Calm, friendly and peaceful people can get very aggressive in an instant - going into a blind rage when the ‘right’ triggers are activated.
Example of a conflict. I witnessed a fight develop over some of the aforementioned points. An older Afghani man of about 55 years old was ‘causing problems’. He was drunk and supposedly calling people names while having borrowed money which he didn’t return. As four younger Syrian guys argued loudly with the man in front of the BRF medical cabin, one of our translators -‘M.’- (who is Afghani) stepped in to get information about what happened, and to calm the situation. Then one of the younger men said something to the translator which immediately transformed our normally calm and friendly M. into a sort of fierce, raging Hulk: shouting in Farsi on the top of his lungs, he threw his BRF jacket and badge on the ground and rolled up his sleeves. He marched towards the group of Syrian guys and me and another translator jumped in to stop M. from going into a fight – for which we had to use all of our strength to hold him back (M. is a pretty big boy). M. flung his arms around, trying to throw us off, shouting: “HE WANTS TO SHOW ME HIS POWER, I’LL SHOW HIM POWER!!”. Pushing and pulling we did get him into a corner where he kept shouting that he was going to teach the guy a lesson, and that we had to let him do it.
Reasoning with M. was impossible: he was in a ‘possession’ of anger and wouldn’t listen to anything explaining him the consequences of his behavior (volunteers working for BRF lose their job if they use violence, unless used in pure self-defense). Other translators took M. over while me and another volunteer ran towards the police to get help, which obviously gave us mixed feelings as you want to involve the police as little as possible. Coming back with the police (six man strong) we found out the old man got hit in the face by one of the Syrian guys; he was getting his lip stitched in the medical cabin. Meanwhile, the Syrian guys had gone and M. had calmed down – burying us with apologies and saying that he never used to be this way but that Moria makes him go mad.
At the cabin, the police started asking questions and we gave vague answers (not wanting anyone to get into trouble). Then the old man, being all neat again, headed off with the slap-happy coppers to find the Syrian wrongdoers. Later on we saw the Syrian guys walking past us while being held by the police. It goes without saying that we sorry felt for them, as they were now delivered into the hands of the police. Yet, and merrily enough, an hour later the Syrian guys were freed and came to our cabin to talk things out. Then, the old Afghani man also returned. Fearing more trouble we told him to go away but he insisted he stayed, while being provocative with the Syrians (!). Tension was rising again and me and another volunteer dragged the man away from the scene.
Bringing him to his tent we found out that he was actually kicked out of his container (where he stays with other refugees) – and that this thin, impoverished tent where he was to sleep in was given to him by an NGO operating in Moria (who I will, after some consideration, keep anonymous). They also gave him one thin blanket, while it felt like it was freezing that night. So we went to this NGO to get some more but they were closed at that time (it was about 00.00). So we went to the police again to ask if the man could sleep in a cell in the prison (where it is warm at least), which was permitted, but then the man didn’t want to. So in the end the man slept in his cold tent, and he wouldn’t be persuaded otherwise (we tried!).
Later on I heard from another volunteer, who is also Afghan and used to be a refugee himself 13 years ago, that he knew the man. He told me that he drinks a lot indeed, basically gets drunk anytime he can, and that he has psychological problems and deals with a lot of stress. Further he is discriminated in the camp because he is from a certain tribe (which one I forgot) and gets into trouble a lot because of his provocative behavior.
Yet, one of the reasons that the man is so provocative, defensive and reactive is that he feels threatened all the time: when he lived in Afghanistan he was part of a discriminated minority group, and now in Moria he still lives among Afghanis who are on his neck all the same; making the man defensive because of feeling unsafe and pushed into a corner. The man is in Moria already for months by the way. Question is: what will this single older man do once he arrives in Europe? Who will employ or support him? What future does this man actually have?
In terms of aggression as a life-stressor there is a lot very off in camp Moria. The aggression practiced by the authorities definitely doesn't help the refugees stabilize and becoming more pacified. To the contrary, it ultimately backfires when the refugees see their 'time is right' for retribution, and where they are able to vent their frustrations 'freely'. And thus and indeed, we see what we see: fires, fights and riots breaking out while also turning their aggression towards themselves; this through practicing unhealthy and self-destructive behaviors like drug abuse and even auto mutilation (on which I'll continue in chapter III.IV).