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On the morning Saddam al-Ibrahim is about to leave Lesbos hell he oversleeps. The clock shows 5.10 o'clock, at the bottom of the street hundreds of asylum seekers are already collecting. They want to catch one of the buses that takes them to the harbor. There is a promise there, as Greece has not done since the EU-Turkey Pact came into force.
Two ferries are to bring 1,500 asylum seekers to mainland Europe - down from the island of Lesbos, which is like a prison for refugees. The evacuation is an emergency measure by the Greek government, most recently the number of arrivals on Lesbos has risen sharply.
Those who make it from Turkey and ask for asylum often have to endure months or years in a crowded camp. That is why this action is an opportunity for the Greek government to make better use of. Especially if you - like the Syrian Ibrahim - live with eight children, two wives, a son-in-law and the son of a cousin in a tent where there is no electricity.
Ibrahim peels out of the tent, hurries a few steps to the sink next to a pile of blue garbage bags. At 5 o'clock he and his family should have finished, the UNHCR woman said. Ibrahim stumbles down the slope.
Gianmarco Maraviglia
Ibrahim is still asleep when hundreds of asylum seekers are crowding the buses
At this point Ibrahim does not suspect that he and his children will stand and wait in the heat of Lesvos eleven hours later. And he also does not suspect that some in Europe consider it a threat that now more people like him reach the Greek islands.
Since June, the number of refugees is rising in the Aegean. In the month 3100 asylum seekers from Turkey transferred to the islands, in July just under 5,000, in August, then around 8,100. As many as since March 2016 no more.
At that time, the EU signed a pact with Turkey. Many aspects of the plan were never implemented, but three working parts of the plan were enough to reduce the number of refugees by 97 percent:
- Turkey intercepted refugees on their coast and on the water
- In return, the EU paid billions to Turkey for the accommodation of refugees
- Above all, Greece sealed off the islands: those who were not considered particularly vulnerable did not get further on the mainland
As it turns out, even these parts of the agreement could soon be out of date.
Pact between EU and Turkey is in question
Because Greece's asylum system threatens to collapse: There is the increasing number of arrivals, then the evacuation of 1,500 people - and not least makes Turkey increasingly pressure on refugees in their country. How reliable is the pact between the EU and Turkey?
While at the foot of the camp refugee for refugee in the blue buses of the Greek Coast Guard rises, Ibrahim sits on top. The police blocks the way to the stop. When boarding, do not panic. Ibrahim's family has packed their belongings in ten boxes and wrapped them in plastic, several times so nothing is lost.
Gianmarco Maraviglia
Persevering in the sun, the evacuation takes hours
Ibrahim's daughter Fatima, just 18, is leaning against her husband Hamza's head, 22, tears streaming down her face. The fact that Fatima and Hamza have married is now doomed to them. They are not allowed on the ferry because they are now another family in the eyes of the Greek authorities. Fatima will be separated from her parents and siblings that day, for the first time in four years of her escape.
Gianmarco Maraviglia
"My children have to go to school": Ibrahim at night with his little daughter
Ibrahim comes from a city in eastern Syria. After the escape he worked as a physiotherapist in Turkey, thus bringing his family through. He saved $ 10,000 in four years, enough money to pay a smuggler. In July, they left, boarded a dinghy, arrived at the beach of Lesbos. As do more than ten thousand other asylum seekers who persevere on the island.
Ibrahim has sought a place in the shade, the other refugees are pushing against the police cordon, now and then let the officials small groups to the buses, if they annoy enough. But Ibrahim, the asylum seeker with the case number 159977, does not want to annoy. So he sits there, blinking in the sun, waiting.
Moria has become a symbol of the catastrophic conditions on Europe's external borders. In the completely overcrowded camp, almost 10,400 asylum seekers are waiting; The camp is designed for 3000. Many camp at an olive grove outside the camp. For days there was no water in the toilets.
Gianmarco Maraviglia
Police cordon in Moria: order for a chaotic place
What is going on in the camp on Lesbos began last Thursday. On that day, 13 inflatable boats arrived within an hour on the island. Many Greeks felt reminded of the years 2015 and 2016.
On the same day, the new Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis traveled to Berlin to meet Angela Merkel. On the agenda: the refugee issue. Turkey, the delegation said, has eased border controls - and deliberately violated the EU Refugee Pact.
Their accusation: Erdogan is taking advantage of the increase in refugee numbers to show Europe and the new Greek government how dependent they are on Turkey. That Ankara could let the refugees move on at any time. It was about concessions from the Europeans, including money for the Syrian refugees in Turkey - but also the Turkish-Greek dispute over gas reserves off the coast of Cyprus.
Erdogan is also under pressure. In fact, the mood in Turkey is tipped, many Turks see the Syrian and Afghan refugees as competitors in the labor market in the face of the economic crisis. The government in Ankara has received more Syrian refugees than any other country in the world.
Greece's problems are ours too
Most recently, however, Turkish police are urging asylum seekers to return to the southern areas where they once registered. Get out of big cities like Istanbul, where many refugees have found work.
Merkel and Mitsotakis sent a clear message to the Turks. The Greek Foreign Minister summoned the Turkish ambassador and accused Ankara of failing to comply with the agreement. For the Greek problem is at the same time a European one: Should the Greek asylum system collapse, sooner or later the asylum seekers would return from the islands to Northern Europe.
Is Turkey actually deliberately working against the Refugee Pact? There is no evidence of the allegations. The refugees in the camp of Moria tell stories that fit. 73 percent of them are originally from Afghanistan. Many lived years in Turkey, some only a few days. They say that the Turkish police beat them, that they no longer feel welcome in Turkey.
Gianmarco Maraviglia
"Just keep driving": Essmatullah Andar, 36, did as he was told
Some believe that it has become easier to overcome the Turkish Coast Guard. One of the Afghans says he was first caught while trying to translate to Lesbos - but after three hours he was released. The men would have told him that the next time he boarded a boat, he should ignore the Coast Guard cries. Just keep going, they would have said. It's stories like these that fuel the suspicions of the Greek government.
Ankara has meanwhile signaled to Greece that the Turkish government is still standing up for the refugee deal. The Turkish ambassador to Athens, Burak Özügergin, denies the Greek accusations that Turkey has not neglected its border protection.
There may be an increase in the number of refugees, but it is temporary and low compared to the pressure on Turkey at its own border. According to their own information, the Turkish Coast Guard wants to have intercepted significantly more refugee boats in recent weeks than before.
The EU and Turkey are also at odds as to who exactly does not fulfill the refugee deal. The EU does not live up to its promises, Ankara expects more from the EU, "that's no secret," says Özügergin. The EU once promised up to six billion euros for the four million refugees in Turkey. Not everything has flowed yet, and the promised visa facilitation for Turkish citizens has never been introduced by the EU.
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Refugees on Lesbos: "I hate this place"Gerald Knaus, founder of the think tank European Stability Initiative, once invented the Refugee Pact with Turkey. He urges European governments to strengthen cooperation with both Athens and Turkey. "The EU has to sit down with Ankara and promise further help," he says.
In the long term, the EU should pledge more money for refugees in Turkey, so that fewer people make their way to Europe. "The increase in refugee numbers on the Greek islands is still relatively moderate," says Knaus. But after four years of stagnation something must happen. "This is a make-or-break moment for the EU-Turkey agreement," says Knaus.
"If France and Germany wanted to solve the problem on the islands, they could do it," says Knaus. However, the political attention is lacking. Greece alone would not make it, the asylum system was already on the verge of collapse on the eve of the last ascent. "If the deal bursts, everyone would lose," says Knaus.
Gianmarco Maraviglia
The goal of dreams: The "Aqua Blue" goes to the mainland
As one of the last Ibrahim climbs into the bus, which brings him to the port. From the ferry, his wife sends selfies to the camp, where the daughter and her husband have to stay.
The ship brings the family to Thessaloniki. Ibrahim wants to stay there, he says. Maybe he'll find a job as a physiotherapist. However, no one has told him that the Greek authorities will place him in another refugee camp. There is no work there.
The camp is located near the border with Northern Macedonia. Not far from the place where the route of the refugees across the Balkans to Northern Europe began before the Turkey Agreement.
This article is part of the project Global Society, for which our reporters report from four continents. The project is long-term and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
What is the project Global Society?
Under the title Global Society, reporters from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe will be reporting on injustices in a globalized world, socio-political challenges and sustainable development. The reportages, analyzes, photo galleries, videos and podcasts appear in the Politics Department of SPIEGEL. The project is long-term and will be supported over three years by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
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SPIEGEL ONLINE has already implemented two projects in recent years with the European Journalism Center (EJC) and the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The "Expedition The Day After tomorrow" on Global Sustainability Goals and the journalistic refugee project "The New Arrivals" Several award-winning multimedia reports on the topics of migration and escape have emerged.
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