PUBLIC STATEMENT: SAVE DIGNITY, SAVE PIKPA AND KARA TEPE

Μore than 160 Greek and international organizations,  academics and other actors from all over Europe urge the Greek authorities to revoke the decision to close dignified alternatives in accommodating refugees οn Lesvos

Athens, 30 September 2020 – We, the undersigned, call on the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarakis, and the local authorities of Lesvos to repeal their decision to terminate the operations of PIKPA and Kara Tepe facilities for vulnerable asylum seekers on the island of Lesvos. The authorities should not only revoke the decision to shut down these facilities, but in this time of great need, they should further strengthen and protect all dignified alternative solutions for asylum seekers’ housing and protection.

In the last five years, PIKPA and Kara Tepe have sheltered vulnerable people escaping from the deplorable living conditions in the Reception and Identification Center (RIC) of Moria, a dangerous place where residents’ health and safety was continuously in jeopardy. The decision to shut down these facilities comes only a few days after a devastating series of blazes burned camp Moria to the ground, leaving more than 12.000 women, men and children with no access to shelter, food and water.

While a new “emergency” camp has been set up on the island, which is currently hosting former residents of Moria camp, many of the signatories present on the ground report significant gaps in protection, access to electricity, water supply and sanitation, safety and security. For as long as the conditions in the RICs are undignified for human beings, alternative responses will be needed, to protect the most vulnerable. PIKPA and Kara Tepe should now, by all means, continue to offer accommodation and protection solutions that are appropriate, especially for the most vulnerable, including unaccompanied and separated children, single mothers, victims of torture and ill treatment, male and female survivors of gender-based and sexual violence, and people with disabilities.

PIKPA, an open, self-organised solidarity space, has provided essential services and assistance to refugees on Lesvos since 2012. In 2016, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), awarded the Nansen Refugee Award to one of the co-founders of PIKPA, in recognition of their work saving lives and providing a safe haven for the most vulnerable during the refugee ‘crisis’ in 2015. Today, PIKPA hosts unaccompanied children, single mothers and persons that have suffered torture or ill treatment, as well as many people with heightened vulnerabilities. Survivors of torture and ill treatment suffer from chronic physical pain for years after their abuse, and psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression, withdrawal and self-isolation, post traumatic stress, known as PTSD, etc. PIKPA offers a dignified and safe space for the survivors who would otherwise be continuously re-traumatized in an unsafe environment.

Kara Tepe has been run by the municipality with a capacity of more than 1,000 people. It has offered humane living conditions to vulnerable asylum seekers and families that were transferred there from Moria, including single parents, people with disabilities, and many families with health problems. It has been lauded for its infrastructure and community-like atmosphere.

While it is unclear where current residents of PIKPA and Kara Tepe will be transferred, the undersigned are convinced that going to the new “emergency” camp would endanger their physical and mental health and should be avoided at all costs. In addition, PIKPA and Kara Tepe could actually take in and better provide for the individuals who are more “at-risk” currently residing in the new Lesvos RIC. This would be especially important for people with disabilities, for example, as there are no accessible latrines in the new RIC at this time.

We urge Greece’s national and local authorities:

To immediately halt the closure of PIKPA and Kara Tepe and to support and further enhance their outstanding contributions.  At the same time, the authorities should seek solutions in line with human rights standards for the operation of the new temporary camp in Lesvos, pursuing the ultimate goal of its steady decongestion, and providing adequate standards in terms of safety, water, sanitation and medical assistance to all residents, until all are moved to safer and dignified accommodation conditions”.

The signatories:

1. A Buon Diritto Onlus
2. ActionAid Hellas
3. Agir pour la paix
4. Aid Brigade
5. AITIMA
6. Amnesty International
7. Anders Wachsen
8. ANTIGONE – Information and Documentation Centre on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non Violence
9. Are You Syrious (AYS)
10. ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth
11. Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucia  (APDHA)
12. Asociación SINGA España
13. Association européenne de défense des droits de l’Homme (AEDH)
14. Babel Day Centre
15. Basta Violenza alle Frontiere
16. Be a Robin
17. Better Days
18. borderline-europe e.V.
19. Calais Action Brighton
20. Casetta Rossa
21. Catch a Smile asbl
22. Centre Avec asbl
23. Centre de formation Bienenberg
24. Changemakers Lab
25. Choosehumanity
26. Chorleywood4Refugees
27. Christian Peacemaker Teams
28. Christian Peacemaker Teams Netherlands
29. Church and Peace
30. Coexistence and Communication in the Aegean
31. Collectif de soutien de l’EHESS aux sans-papiers et aux migrant-es
32. Collectif pour une terre plus humaine
33. Collective Aid
34. Comité de Solidarité avec le Peuple Grèce de Lyon
35. Coordindora de Barrios
36. CPT – Aegean Migrant Solidarity
37. CRIBS International
38. CRID – Centre de recherche et d’information pour le développement
39. Diotima
40. Danish Refugee Council (DRC)
41. Defence for Children International
42. Defence for Children International – Italy
43. Defence for Children International – Netherlands
44. Defence for Children International Greece
45. Defensa de Niñas y Niños – Internacional , DNI España
46. Défense des enfants International Belgique
47. Député Wallon (Belgique)
48. Destination Unknown campaign
49. Distribute Aid
50. Doctors Worldwide
51. Donate4Refugees
52. ECHO for Refugees
53. ECHO100PLUS
54. Ecological Movement of Thessaloniki
55. European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies
56. ELIX – Conservation Volunteers Greece
57. ENAR – European Network Against Racism
58. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH – rehabilitate Human Dignity
59. European Women’s Lobby
60. Everyday, just a smile
61. Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid
62. Firetree Philanthropy
63. Firetree Trust
64. Fondation Danielle Mitterrand
65. foodKIND
66. FORGE for humanity
67. Fresh Response
68. Friends Of Refugees
69. German Mennonite Peace Committee
70. Glocal Roots
71. Greek Council for Refugees
72. Greek Helsinki Monitor
73. Griechenland Solidaritätskomitee Köln
74. Heimatstern e.V.
75. Hello My Friend
76. Help Refugees / Choose Love
77. Herts for Refugees
78. HIAS Greece
79. HIGGS
80. Hoffnung leben e.V., Bonn, Deutschland
81. Hope and Aid Direct
82. HuBB – Humans Before Borders
83. Human Rights Watch
84. Humanitas, Centre for Global Education and Cooperation
85. Humanity Now
86. HumanRights360
87. Initiative for an alternative mental health
88. Initiative for the Detainees’ Rights
89. InterEuropean Human Aid Association
90. International Centre for Refugees ICERAS
91. International Federation of Social Workers, European Region (IFSW Europe)
92. International Rescue Committee
93. INTERSOS
94. InterVolve
95. Iride
96. Jelscha Dietrich
97. Jesuit Refugee Service Greece
98. Khora Community Centre
99. La Luna Di Vasilika ONLUS
100. Latitude Adjustment Podcast
101. Le Paria
102. Legal Centre Lesvos
103. Lesvos Solidarity
104. Love Welcomes
105. Make Mothers Matter
106. MAMbrella
107. Medecins du Monde/ Greece
108. Medecins Sans Frontieres -Doctors Without Borders -MSF
109. Medico International
110. Melissa: Network of Migrant Women in Greece
111. Mennonite Mission Network
112. Mennonitisches Friedenszentrum Berlin/Mennonite Peace Center Berlin
113. Migrant Voice
114. Migrations Libres
115. MiGreat
116. Mαζί/Together/معاً
117. Network for Children’s Rights
118. One Family-No Borders
119. One Happy Family
120. ONGD CEPAC-IB
121. Open Cultural Center
122. Organization Earth
123. Owl’s Watch
124. Pampiraiki Support Initiative for Refugees & Migrants
125. Parroquia San Carlos Borromeo
126. Peaceful Borders
127. People in motion
128. Pluspunt Netherlands
129. Project Armonia
130. Protestant Association for Conscientious Objectors and Peace (EAK), Germany
131. Rechtsanwältin
132. Refugee Aid Network Uk
133. Refugee Compassion
134. Refugee Education And Learning International
135. Refugee Law Clinic Berlin e.V.
136. Refugee Rescue
137. Refugee Support Aegean ( R.S.A.)
138. Refugee Support Europe
139. Refugee Trauma Initiative
140. Refugee Youth Service
141. Refugees International
142. REFUGYM
143. RefuNet
144. Reseau Foi & Justice Afrique Europe Antenne France
145. Respekt für Griechenland e.V.
146. Rethinking Refugees – Knowledge and Action
147. Safe Passage UK
148. SAO Association for displaced women
149. Seebruecke Wuppertal
150. ShowerPower Foundation
151. Side by Side Refugees
152. SolidarityNow
153. Still I Rise
154. Stop Precarite
155. Support Art Workers (Greece)
156. Symbiosis-School of Political Studies in Greece
157. Terre des hommes Hellas
158. Thalassa of Solidarity
159. Vasilika Moon
160. Velos Youth
161. Verein FAIR
162. Voice Of Ezidis
163. Wiltshire For Refugees
164. Yoga and Sport For Refugees
165. Youth for Refugees
166. Youth organization “Protests”

Also endorsed by:

• dr. Ilse Derluyn, Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees (CESSMIR), Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy
• Vassilis Pavlopoulos , Associate Professor of Cross-Cultural Psychology – National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Antonello D’Elia, Presidente di Società Italiana di Psichiatria Democratica Onlus
• Hellen Gerolymatos McDonald, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, MSW, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, School of Social Work, U.S.A (The opinions are Hellen McDonald’s and not those of the University of Illinois)
• Luciano Rondine, Settore immigrazione e inclusione sociale, Centro di prevenzione psicosociale Nodo Sankara
• Joanna Kato, chair of Human Rights & Social Responsibility Committee of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT)
• Athina Fragkouli, President of the Board of the Society of Social Psychiatry P. Sakellaropoulos

Cover Photo: Kara Tepe Refugee Camp on Lesbos Island, Greece

© UN Photo/Rick Bajornas