Posted: December 21, 2022
Moria, a camp that held over 17,000 refugees, burned in 2020, forcing all to be displaced. The Greek government took control of the situation by shutting down all refugee camps on the island and consolidating them into “New Moria”. Hidden behind a wall from the public, and populated by columns of white tents is where Anise lived.
Mission Lifeline team member sits and talks with Anise in Lesvos, Greece
Anise’s story was introduced to me during my yearlong fellowship to document immigration from the European perspective. I was interning with the search and rescue boat, Mission Lifeline, to report on the island’s status, two years after the fire. By that time, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was a month old. “No War” and “Free Ukraine” banners were hung on nearly all businesses. Europeans were at train stations holding signs offering free rooms in their homes. Refugee shelters were swiftly built in countries once claiming to have “no more room”. It felt as if Middle Eastern and African asylum seekers were completely forgotten.
Anise, 19, born in Afghanistan and now four years sheltering in New Moria, watched as the media showed Ukrainians being met with open arms. However, she remained waiting for a chance at asylum.
Protests in Berlin against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
Kids on Lesvos refugee camp, waiting with their family for a chance at asylum
Photo: Mark Rebaum
Mission Lifeline team member sits and talks with Anise in Lesvos, Greece
The world's response to those who seek asylum is capable of being fair, sustainable, and kind.
Written across the former Moria refugee camp are the words: Welcome to Europe. Human Rights Graveyard
When I documented this warm welcome of Ukrainian refugees in comparison to the exclusion of Anise and others at New Moria, the extreme disparities in refugee treatment became too strong to ignore. The double standards faced by asylum seekers became the center of my documentation, as I wanted to encourage these dialogues to happen. The world’s response to those who seek asylum is capable of being fair, sustainable, and kind.
Abandoned building in the center of Mytilene. Locals say, people on both sides agree to ‘close Moria.’
By documenting Anise, she helped better shape how I platform underrepresented voices. I strive to have my work destigmatize the borders constructed between us.