The Trash - Lesvos Island

One of the side stories of the Refugee Story photo project, The Trash presents pictures and stories of one tragic impact of the influx of refugees on the island of Lesvos in Greece.
Lesvos, paradise on Earth and renown tourist destinations for its amazing landscapes and beaches. It has been famous in the news this year for another reason than its beautiful mountains. Being very close to Turkey makes Lesvos a strategic entry point for the refugees in the European Union. Thousands of refugees cross the Aegean Sea every week on tiny dinghy boats to reach the shores of Lesvos and this leaves an important mark as all the boats and life jackets are left where they land.
It is impossible to reuse safely either the boats or the jackets (which are usually fake replicas anyway) and refugees are not in the position to clean or manage the trash on the island. Municipal infrastructures are not prepared to manage such an important and unusual amount of trash which is accumulating dangerously. This accumulation creates an important threat for the fragile ecosystem of the island and its waters as well as a threat for the social balance.
Many of the locals depend of tourism to live and even if they had nothing against refugees, they consider their arrivals as a threat to their island and livelihood. This creates unnecessary tensions between the two groups and it is crucial to find a solution to the trash before the situation gets even worse.
On all levels, it is beneficial for the refugees, the locals and the environment to get rid of all the trash caused by the arrivals of the boats. Some volunteer organizations are working hard to clean the beaches but the municipality, government and bigger NGOs need to be involved to find a long term solution. With the tourist season starting again next Spring, everyone is looking forward to solving the problem.
All images are taken on the island of Lesvos, Greece.

*** VERSION FRANÇAISE ***

An impressive amount of trash from the arriving boats cover the beaches of Lesvos island. The view from the top of the cliffs gives a sense of proportions. Lesvos, Greece.
20151017 Lesvos053 Europe afghanistan balkans boats frederic seguin grece island lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis refugee camps refugee crisis refugees sea syria war
A discarded pneumatic boat. One in dozens that arrive every day on the island.
20151016 Lesvos095 2015 Europe boats frederic seguin grece greek border lesbos lesvos mediterranean migrants migrants crisis refugee camps refugee crisis refugees sea turkey
Dozens of life vests cover the shores of Skala Sikamineas on Lesvos island. A quick look is enough to see that most of them are fake and do not respect any security standards. They are not adequate to keep someone afloat long enough for rescue teams to arrive and can not be used again.
20151016 Lesvos088 Europe boats frederic seguin greece island lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis refugee camps refugee crisis refugees shore turkey
A little boy in front of a mountain of discarded life jackets. Each arriving boat represents an important amount of trash; the boat in itself is made of a lot of plastic and each of the 50 refugees wears a life jacket. Refugees have no means of carrying the wet and useless life jackets anywhere and they are left on the beaches.
20151021 Lesvos112 Europe afghanistan akti hotel asylum crossing frederic seguin grece greece greek border lesbos lesvos mediterranean migrants migrants crisis migration molyvos refugee crisis refugees syria
A pile of trash contrasts deeply with the dreamy landscape of Lesvos. The fragile ecologic and economic balance on the island could be affected if nothing is done.
20151021 Lesvos048
A man smiles and waves at the camera while walking in front of a mountain of life jackets. The municipality has not yet organized any kind of trash collection on the shores.
20151025 Lesvos267 Europe afghanistan boat crossing boats frederic seguin grece greece irak iran lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis molyvos mytilini refugee camps refugee crisis refugees refugie syria turkey volunteer coordination lesvos
A refugee couple who just arrived on the island walks on the shores surrounded by remains of boats.
20151025 Lesvos204 Europe afghanistan boat crossing boats frederic seguin grece greece irak iran lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis molyvos mytilini refugee camps refugee crisis refugees refugie syria turkey volunteer coordination lesvos
Trash covers the beaches as far as one can see. Skala Sikamineas is one of the busiest beaches for the arrivals and a very important quantity of trash ends up here.
20151025 Lesvos281 Europe afghanistan boat crossing boats frederic seguin grece greece irak iran lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis molyvos mytilini refugee camps refugee crisis refugees refugie syria turkey volunteer coordination lesvos
A Greek lady living on the island watches refugees arriving among life jackets. Conflicts between refugees and locals are happening more and more as the locals think they might be threatening their island.
20151017 Lesvos189 Europe afghanistan balkans boats frederic seguin grece island lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis refugee camps refugee crisis refugees sea syria war
Two refugees who just arrived are cleaning up the shores of the life jackets discarded by other people on their boats. It is not unusual to see refugees helping to clean up but it is understandable that with all the stress and emotions from the crossing, cleaning is not their priority.
20151018 Lesvos129
A volunteer is working to clean the beach of Skala Sikamineas. It can be overwhelming regarding the sheer amount of trash but volunteers are working hard with the resources available. As boats keep arriving, it is crucial to have a long term solution to regularly clean the beaches and dispose of the trash.
20151025 Lesvos334 Europe afghanistan boat crossing boats frederic seguin grece greece irak iran lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis molyvos mytilini refugee camps refugee crisis refugees refugie syria turkey volunteer coordination lesvos
Skala Sikamineas beach is clean from the life jackets and piles are ready to be picked up. Even when everything is sorted out, it is complicated to get the piles to a dumping or incinerating site as the municipality does not have any plan to get rid of them.
20151025 Lesvos339 Europe afghanistan boat crossing boats frederic seguin grece greece irak iran lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis molyvos mytilini refugee camps refugee crisis refugees refugie syria turkey volunteer coordination lesvos
Antoine, one of the organizers of the cleaning action day from Volunteers Coordination Lesvos tries to remove the remains of a boat on the shore. It is important to remove the boats as soon as possible to prevent them from being covered by rocks from the tide, making them extremely hard to remove afterwards.
20151025 Lesvos179 Europe afghanistan boat crossing boats frederic seguin grece greece irak iran lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis molyvos mytilini refugee camps refugee crisis refugees refugie syria turkey volunteer coordination lesvos
A volunteer organization (Volunteer Coordination Lesvos) managed to rent a truck to pick up the trash for a day. Cleaning actions like this one help reducing the trash burden temporarily but long term solutions are primordial.
20151025 Lesvos430 Europe afghanistan boat crossing boats frederic seguin grece greece irak iran lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis molyvos mytilini refugee camps refugee crisis refugees refugie syria turkey volunteer coordination lesvos
20151026 Lesvos141
20151023 Lesvos093 2015 Europe afghanistan athens frederic seguin grece greece island lesbos lesvos mediterranean migrants migrants crisis migration molyvos moria mytilini refugee crisis refugees syria war
20151026 Lesvos023
20151025 Lesvos288 Europe afghanistan boat crossing boats frederic seguin grece greece irak iran lesbos lesvos migrants migrants crisis molyvos mytilini refugee camps refugee crisis refugees refugie syria turkey volunteer coordination lesvos