Gemma Bird

Before last May’s election in Greece, the returning prime minister claimed his ‘firm but fair’ policy on people movement worked. Far from it. Samos, a mile from the Turkish coastline, has become known as one of the five ‘hotspots’ in…

On the 29th of July 2023 the Hellenic police announced an investigation into 21 people including members of NGOs involved in supporting asylum seekers arriving in Lesvos. Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, referred to this…

The warehousing of asylum-seekers behind barbed wire encapsulates where ‘protecting borders’ leads. As representatives of the European Union’s 27 member states came together on February 9th and 10th in Brussels, for a summit focused on war, the economy and migration, a number…

A classified report by EU anti-fraud office Olaf has accused Frontex, the EU border agency, of covering up human rights violations in Greece. The report was made public by German media. It comes after a months-long investigation into allegations that Greek border officials…

Asylum seekers travelling to Europe via irregular migration routes often rely on assistance from lawyers, NGOs, and volunteers following their arrival. Drawing on research conducted in Greece, Gemma Bird details the risks that these individuals and organisations take in their efforts to…

Samos has, for many years, been viewed as an ‘emergency’ situation. As the number of people ‘housed’ in the Reception and Identification Centre (RIC) on the island, built to shelter 648 residents, rose dramatically in 2019 and 2020 the conditions…

When we tell stories about displacement, asylum processes and claiming refuge we often focus on the process itself, the violence of borders, the conditions in camps, the numbers of people who find themselves stuck waiting for a decision. The reason…

Over the last 5 years the Greek island of Samos has become synonymous with the struggles faced by displaced people. With the fight against encampment, against limited access to food, to healthcare and to education. It is an island with…

Europe is thought of by many refugees escaping persecution, war, poverty, and violence as a place of safety, of Human Rights, of protection, security, and kindness. These narratives are further supported by the rhetoric of the European Commission that presents…

Fires at a reception centre for asylum seekers on the Greek island of Lesbos have left thousands of people without shelter. Around 13,000 people – including those from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and west Africa – lived at the Moria Reception and…