Well, and then at some point last year there was the decision not to talk about it all the time and be outraged from a distance - but to go there yourself.

And so I arrived on Lesbos at the beginning of the year and worked in different projects:

In the Bashira Women Center - a shelter for refugee women - I taught English and organized and carried out sports activities. Several times a week there was football, basketball, running or Pilates- at changing spots in Mytilene - as an optional offer for all visitors of the centre. Sport to get energized, sport to take your mind off things, sport as a meeting place, sport to learn new skills...or just to have fun.

At No Border Kitchen I was regularly involved in the daily food distribution for about 200 people (and the preparation and follow-up) and at CampFire we "spotted" at night - i.e. we observed and documented the actions of the coast guards, checked if boats with refugees from Turkey were arriving and - if that was the case - supported them on their arrival. 

The time was incredibly moving and intense. It is unbelievable that such a humanitarian catastrophe is taking place there.

Since my return to Germany, a lot has happened on Lesbos - the situation has become even worse, first by violent right-wing groups, then by Corona and the lockdown: there have been various violent attacks on refugees and NGO staff*, NGOs could no longer work, volunteers had to leave the island, the basic right to asylum has been suspended for a month, the authorities responsible for asylum applications have temporarily stopped working because of Corona. Camp Moria has been successively sealed off and the people living there are still not allowed to leave it - more than 20,000 people have to live there in cramped conditions and under catastrophic conditions without even the slightest hygienic standards. The danger of a corona outbreak is making these living conditions even worse!

Together with other people I try to support projects and people on Lesbos as much as I can in times of Corona. This is how Solidarity without Borders came into being - a group of politically active people from Leipzig, some of whom have provided direct help on Lesbos themselves.

We want to draw attention to the catastrophic situation at the EU's external borders. We stand for the slogans "This policy is not ours!", "The camps must be evacuated now!" and "We have enough space for that!" We have initiated various campaigns (donation mail, digital Solikon concert series) to collect donations. The money goes directly to NGOs and projects on Lesbos and the Balkans.