COUNTRY / PROBLEM
Greece is a country on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula. In addition to the continental part, Greece comprises about 2,500 islands, 165 of which are inhabited. As a result of the migration crisis, Greek islands near the border with Turkey (among others, the island of Lesbos) were in 2015 and 2016 one of the most frequent destinations for refugees arriving to Europe.
The year of 2015, in which the “Domino Effect” episode was produced, was a turning-point year according to the data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Fleeing conflicts and persecution, more than a million refugees reached Europe at that time via the Mediterranean Sea. More than half a million refugees arrived on the island of Lesbos alone, mostly from war-torn Syria. Inhabitants of this island faced the enormous challenge of taking care of the refugees arriving in massive numbers.
VOLUNTEER GROUPS
A British couple, Philippa and Eric Kempson, went to the island of Lesbos on holiday more than a quarter of a century ago, and, a few years later, decided to spend the rest of their lives there. Because of the desire to help the refugees arriving on the island, the family gave up their previous working life. They converted the shop that they had previously run into a warehouse and a first aid point.
Melinda McRostie decided to turn her restaurant into a logistics centre for volunteers working in Molyvos. At the back of her restaurant named Captain’s Table, she set up a makeshift refugee camp.
PROJECTS
Kulczyk Foundation donated more than 32 thousand emergency blankets, which were given by volunteer groups to refugees immediately after they reached the coast of the island of Lesbos.
