Learning from Lesbos Lessons from the IRC’S Early Emergency Response in the Urban Areas of Lesbos Between September 2015 and March 2016
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Learning from Lesbos Lessons from the IRC’s Early Emergency Response in the Urban Areas of Lesbos between September 2015 and March 2016 International Rescue Committee | NOVEMBER 2016 Learning from Lesbos Lessons from the IRC’s Early Emergency Response in the Urban Areas of Lesbos between September 2015 and March 2016 International Rescue Committee | NOVEMBER 2016 Table of Contents 3 Executive Summary 9 Introduction 13 Key Findings 21 Recommendations 23 Annex A: Detailed Methodology 25 Annex B: Interviews 26 Annex C: Monthly Refugee Arrivals on Lesbos 27 Defining Urban 27 References 28 Acknowledgements front cover: In Mytilene, migrants and refugees set up tents near the pier where ferries to mainland Greece embark. Tyler Jump/IRC opposite page: A young girl watches the ferry in Mytilene port. Tyler Jump/IRC ©2016 International Rescue Committee 3 Bloomsbury Place, London WC1A 2QL, UK | Rescue-uk.org | Rescue.org TURKISH MAINLAND LESBOS TURKEY GREECE Aphrodite APANEMO EFTHALOU MOLYVOS MANTAMADOS (MITHYMNA) OXY SKALA SIKAMANEAS TURKISH MAINLAND KALLONI Moria Kara Tepe MYTILENE Pikpa Although a large island, Lesbos is mountainous and largely covered in semi-desert scrubland. Extensive olive groves occupy much of the rest of the island and there are also large pine forests. The resident population is concentrated on the coast in small urban areas; Built-up areas over a third of the island’s population lives in Mytilene. Assembly points Shelter sites Bus route 10 km where refugees gather after disembarking their boats on their N journey to Mytilene to register Less than 10 km from the Turkish mainland, a large island and an administrative centre, GREECE TURKEY Lesbos is uniquely attractive as an unauthorised LESBOS entry point into the European Union. IZMIR Migrants and refugees typically gather in Izmir, where they connect with people smugglers. They are then bussed to a remote coastal location, where they are put on flimsy inflatable craft to make ATHENS the sea journey to Lesbos. After landing on the north coast of Lesbos, refugees and migrants congregate for buses to Mytilene, where, eventually, they begin the registration 100 km process and wait in shelter sites for authorisation to make their way by ferry to Athens and beyond. 2 Learning from Lesbos Executive Summary As the European refugee crisis highlights, displaced people are increasingly travelling to or through towns and cities, rather than being accommodated in centralised camp settings. Today, more than half of the world’s displaced people live in urban areas1 and will, on average, continue to be displaced for over a decade.2 The humanitarian sector must adapt to meet the challenges of an urbanising world and the increasing role of cities as places of refuge, as well as sites of heightened risk of crisis, marginalisation, and inequality. It is therefore critical that humanitarian actors take a coordinated and collaborative approach to supporting refugees and migrants, tailoring their response to suit the urban context and its various stakeholders. Urban areas are characterised by the size, diversity and This report underlines the importance of a coordinated mobility of their populations, the density and diversity of the and collaborative approach to emergency response in built environment, the number and diversity of government, urban areas. The recommendations, addressed civil society, private sector and academic organisations, and primarily to humanitarian actors, reflect lessons the reliance of urban populations on social, political, technical learned from the International Rescue Committee’s and economic systems rather than the natural environment (IRC) initial emergency response programming for their livelihoods.3 These characteristics create both on the island of Lesbos, Greece, between opportunities and challenges for actors responding to September 2015 and March 2016, while the crisis urban crises. In particular, they create an imperative for on Lesbos was at its peak. This report is not the humanitarian sector to adapt to the complexity of a reflection of the IRC’s current programming urban environments, the diversity of their populations, on the island. The findings recognise the complexity and the large variety of stakeholders present within them. of urban areas and the need for greater coordination of response activities and better collaboration among The arrival of large numbers of people in an urban area responders, stakeholders, and local communities. brings challenges for both displaced and host populations. It also presents opportunities. Currently, however, both This report also contributes to the continuing discussion the challenges and opportunities are not adequately around how to improve urban humanitarian response. recognised or addressed in humanitarian response. The findings and recommendations are intended to build The emergency response to an unexpected influx of on the growing knowledge base around good practice. asylum seekers and other migrants in a town or city It is not an evaluation, but rather a product to inform and sees “traditional” humanitarian actors sharing the field influence operational practices and policies in ongoing and of operations with a broader range of stakeholders than future responses to humanitarian crises in urban settings. they are used to cooperating and coordinating with. Additionally, this is an environment in which local and/ or national actors will often have an existing operational presence and where local authorities will expect to continue to exercise (and have respected) their mandate for oversight of the activities taking place in their constituencies. lesbos map, opposite: Basic data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License; Landsat and SRTM3 data, NASA; UNHCR, “Lesvos data snapshot,” 30 March 2016; Alfred Thomas Grove, Oliver Rackham, The Nature of Mediterranean Europe: An Ecological History, Yale University Press, 2003, pp325-327 aegean location map, opposite: CC BY-SA 3.0, original by Wikimedia user Future Perfect at Sunrise, no endorsement implied right: Refugees and migrants often arrive on the northern shores of Lesbos in overcrowded rafts and wearing inadequate life jackets. Tyler Jump/IRC Learning from Lesbos 3 Executive Summary (continued) Findings The findings and recommendations in this report 3 A more coordinated approach, in which look for ways to overcome the challenges and organisations and individuals engaged in the leverage the opportunities arising from humanitarian humanitarian response – including volunteers and operations in urban areas, bringing benefits for both civil society actors – were more willing to recognise displaced populations and the communities in which one another, and to ensure complementarity in they reside. The main findings, in summary, are: the diverse activities taking place, would have improved the prioritisation of efforts and 1 The IRC’s early engagement with the the effectiveness of the response. Municipality of Lesbos led to mutual benefits 4 Despite the fractured nature of the response, in the immediate term, and was approached with a the IRC managed to build relationships with view to ensuring positive long-term impact as well. actors at all levels of the response (from private individuals through to municipal authorities). 2 Working with the existing urban These relationships proved critical to efforts systems of Lesbos – both public and private – to magnify the impact of the IRC’s activities. to deliver humanitarian programming proved particularly effective. Where existing systems 5 Purposeful and ongoing engagement were inadequate or appeared to be operating and advocacy with the local population, in ways that were problematic, the IRC sought particularly in Molyvos, would have to engage in ways that addressed gaps and strengthened the IRC’s response. ameliorated or mitigated problematic practices. 6 Tensions between host and hosted populations were exacerbated by a lack of reliable, accessible and relevant information. Rumours and misinformation circulated unchecked, undermining social cohesion, and leading to suspicion, below: Discarded life jackets in northern Lesbos, each representing strained relationships, poor prioritisation and use of a refugee or migrant that arrived on the island’s shores. Tyler Jump/IRC scarce resources and even unsafe decision-making. 4 Learning from Lesbos Recommendations 1 Accountability to host populations 3 Meaningful participation of local needs to be strengthened. communities is essential. In addition In order to better achieve this, to the fact that affected communities humanitarian actors should engage – host as well as hosted – have with local authorities early in their the right to be consulted and to emergency response and ensure take part in activities that affect that this engagement is ongoing them, participation that leverages throughout the operation. local capacities has been shown to increase the effectiveness and appropriateness of humanitarian 2 Humanitarian actors responding to response. Active engagement of urban crises must strive to achieve local people can also be expected effective coordination, which to contribute to improving social includes local authorities, local cohesion, not least between non-governmental organisations displaced and host populations. (NGOs), communities, and volunteer When interacting with the local groups. Establishing and maintaining community, humanitarian actors meaningful partnerships between should provide timely information,