We are their jailers: What is their crime?

They have committed no crime. 

They can no longer live safely in their home countries 

and they are searching for a new life. 

I posted these pictures on Facebook recently and there was an immediate reaction, and they were “shared” many times. I don’t think many people realise the size of the problem.

I want to write about the "camps" where refugees are now effectively incarcerated. Not the squats administered by the Anarchist Solidarity movements with education for the children and language classes for all, but the government internment camps where refugees have inadequate food or drinking water, erratic electricity supplies, inadequate sanitation and limited healthcare.

I have tried all day, but I am overwhelmed with sadness, anger and feeling impotent to make any meaningful intervention. 

People in such camps need to establish and prove their status as refugees seeking asylum from the conflict in their home countries. Let me try to outline the processing system, as I understand it. The first stage is to apply for asylum in Greece. If this is granted, it will then enable the refugee to proceed to other EU countries (most refugees want to settle in Northern Europe.)

The asylum application process is by live interview via a SKYPE (video-call) link. The officials are mostly Greek but may be from other EU countries. There is limited availability of interpreters to participate in these interviews; some languages are available for two or three hours per day, others are available just once per week. 

Remember that there are over 50,000 refugees seeking asylum each one needing to start their application by going through the Skype interview and application process. If you do the sums, you can see that this could take years, - even if everyone was fluent in a common language. 

A Greek and a Syrian speaking second-language English to each other is not a formula for the reliable communication of accurate information. That’s not any kind of criticism, just a realistic observation.

Then there’s a lot of misunderstanding about smartphones and Wi-Fi. Back in the UK, many of us think of internet access as something of a luxury that provides easy access to emails and entertainment. For refugees, it is an absolute lifeline. There are very few “internet cafes” now that a majority people have access to the internet in their pocket. If you don’t believe that, travel in India and you’ll see how the world works these days. Everyone has a smartphone and top-ups can cost just pennies

This is why refugees need to own a smartphone to access the internet through a Wi-Fi hotspot. The internet is the prime source of any information about immigration, residence, and every other aspect of relocating to a new country. It is also the only way they can keep in touch with family, friends and relations whether back in their home country or elsewhere in Europe. 

I find it very difficult to imagine the absolute cruelty of police and army who have been known to confiscate phones when they move refugees to new locations.

Plenty of fresh food for lunch at the Plaza

You may have seen video footage of holiday resorts and tourist hotels that have been converted to refugee accommodation. 

The Plaza Hotel in Athens has often featured, but you need to know that this is not a government enterprise. The Plaza is a model operation with classes and activities for everyone. It is run on philanthropic lines with great care and democracy by the Athens-based anarchist Solidarity movement.

Camps run by the Greek army tend to be less generous and philanthropic in their management, partly because the Greeks are restricted in what they are able to provide. The EU is telling the Greeks to provide bed and board, but is not providing anything like sufficient funding for the Greek government to be able to do a proper job.

When the camps started to be occupied, whether on the islands or the mainland, very few had all the basics in place.  Water, sanitation, and electricity have rarely been available in adequate supply. The insufficient provision of food is disgraceful, and drinking water is often rationed to one litre per person per day – which is half the recommended consumption for temperate climates – not the 40+ sunshine of the Greek summer. 

More information is all over the internet. Here is a typical story 

No, please don’t shrug your shoulders, because there are things you can do. For a start, you can talk to your Town Hall, and get them to declare a clear policy on Refugees. 

Then you can approach the Faith leaders in your community about promoting the idea of “Refugees are Welcome Here.” By Faith leaders, I mean not only priests, ministers, pastors, rabbis, and imams, I mean the hierarchy above them who need to feel pressure coming up from the grass roots level.

We are not getting the leadership the country needs from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, nor from the Chief Rabbi, nor from the heads of the Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities. 

We are not getting leadership from the TUC or the CBI and we are not getting it from any political party. I have lost faith in Westminster!

• Westminster no longer represents the people, and we are looking for an honest alternative.
• Maybe they should start worrying about that.