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  • Andrea Sarris
    • Sep 2, 2015
    • 2 min read

A refugee's life at the bottleneck of Mytilini Harbor


"Do you need some water?" asks Michael, my friend, photographer extraordinaire and humanitarian aid volunteer.

Michael handing out water

Here's Michael handing out hats and water to a man and his two daughters.

man and two daughters with water and hats from Michael

We've come to Mytilini to document the thousands of refugees who've we met on the Northern end of the island and have walked or have been driven the 60 km to the Port of Mytilini.

Michael documenting washing down below

As we approach "The Statue of Liberty," the stench is almost too much to bear!

The Statue of Liberty Mytilini Harbor

I have never seen anything like this in my life.

Tents in the foreground and refugees in the background

We stop and talk to a Syrian refugee - waiting like the thousands above for the proper paperwork.

Claiming space, waiting & a watchful eye

Mike says, "You wanna go in?"

Refugees in Mytilini Harbor

I hesitate and we walk in.

Refugees Mytilini Harbor

This is what we see....

woman with her children

A woman with her children.

George P... and local ERT reporter doing a news story

The local news team working with the Greek channel ERT!

Waiting & wondering - A refugee's life

Refugees waiting at the dock of the berth of the ship.

A makeshift shelter out of cardboard

I look down and I think I am about to walk on cardboard boxes and it's a man seeking shelter from the sun.

Swimming at the ship's berth

I look up and there are a few swimming in the ship's berth as onlookers watch and wait.

Middle Eastern Style food with mom giving pizza to children

I am struck with the simpleness of a mother giving her children food as they wait.

Mike taking the kids' portraits

We meet Anmar from Baghdad, Iraq. I take video footage of his story. He tells us he crossed this great sea, saved people from drowning, saw his homeland turn into hell only to witness another hell of registering for asylum.

And we part with Mike taking a picture of the kids above. We get into the car and unpack the water and as we drive to to the Northern end of the island, we stop many times on the side of the road and ask, "Do you need some water?"

#MytiliniHarbor #refugeelife #water #never #seenanythinglikethis #AsyluminGreece

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