Thread by @jenanmoussa

1/ A not so merry Christmas from the Greek island of Lesbos.

I'm on Lesbos to report on tough situation of refugees who are stuck here.

Muhamad from Afghanistan tells me: "I don't think we're in Europe. We are in a zoo."

Watch my @akhbar story 👇

2/ There are thousands of refugees here on Lesbos. Mostly from Afghanistan.

Camp I visited, near village of Moria, is one mess. Small tents, garbage, dirt, hardly any organization.

Inhabitants call it "The Jungle".

Reminds me of camps I saw in Syria. However, Lesbos is in EU.

3/ Moria camp on Lesbos is an official camp.

It has a fence for security. Few thousand refugees live inside. Some stay in containers; others in tents.

Good thing about this camp is that the floor of the tents is concrete, which protects in case of rain.

4/ Officially Moria camp has capacity of 2500. However many more refugees arrived here. At the moment it houses 5000+ people.

Outside main gate of Moria camp, unofficial camp has appeared. Tents in fields. Refugees call this area "the jungle". Total 400-600 tents (est 2000 ppl).

5/ Most difficult area is clearly that outside main gate of the official Moria camp, outside its fences.

Here, no fence to protect the people. Electricity & hot water not always available. Garbage everywhere. Nights cold. It's dry now but possible rain will worsen situation.

6/ In "The Jungle", also known as Olive Grove camp, I met some friendly Afghans. Mainly Tajiks & Hazaras but also Pashtun. Especially Hazaras are persecuted by Taliban.

Most want to go to Germany.

4 yr old Yasmin was just the most adorable girl you can meet.

7/ In addition to the cold, refugees mainly complain about food.

Every refugee spends 4 hrs daily waiting in a line of hundreds of people to get 3 meals. In my report, u can see these long queues.

Food quality horrible. "We find worms in the meals," a yemeni refugee told me.

8/ Outside Moria camp, I met Asayel. She is from Yemen. Her family is the only yemeni family in the camp. They fled the war.

"My mom is sick due to the terrible food we got here. It had worms in it!"

10/ So remember to always be incredibly grateful when you are gathered with your loved ones for a meal on Christmas.

So many people don't have that.

11/ For Yemeni refugees like Asayel and her family, the road to Lesbos is the longest compared to all other nationalities.

She told me that by land they went from Yemen to Oman then by boat to Iran then over land to Turkey and lastly by dinghy to Lesbos.

12/ I also met many Afghan refugees.

Some travel legally by plane on a Turkish visa to Istanbul. Others make journey in illegal way over land from Afghanistan to Iran then Turkey.

Once in Turkey, organize smuggler &get on rubber boat to Lesbos (btwn 15 & 30 Kms).

13/ Its bad weather today here in Lesbos. Heavy rain. Strong wind.

At 0630 this morning, I went to check the beaches to see if any rubber boat was arriving with refugees from Turkey.

But in this weather, no crossings possible. Waves really high. Would lead to disaster.

14/ Weather here on Lesbos was much better yesterday.

Outside the camp, an NGO organized some music/ dancing/ games for the refugee kids & their parents to create some Christmas spirit.

@akhbar

15/ Christmas in a tent with Afghan refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos.

@akhbar

16/ Its really cold here on Lesbos. Around 7 degrees. Rain and wind.

Winter is the worst period for refugees.

Here kids in the camp starting fire to get warm.

@akhbar

17/ Part of the refugee camp on Lesbos after the rain.

@akhbar

18/ It's not a lot but at least something: Each refugee or family head here on Lesbos gets bankcard with €90 per month from EU/UN. Wives and kids get €50 p/m.

With this, refugees can for instance buy Greek sim card with Internet bundle (10 euros) to stay in touch with family.

19/ Thank you all for following this thread. Hope it was useful.

Please enjoy your holidays and soon another story from another country.

20/ #Exclusive: Right now large fire in #Moria refugee camp on Lesbos. A source who lives in a tent nearby filmed the fire & just sent me this clip.

3 weeks ago I visited Lesbos &met many refugees who are stuck there.

No details on cause fire. Hope everyone is safe 🙏

@akhbar

21/ Update on fire in #Moria camp on Lesbos: I just spoke via whatsapp to my source who lives in a tent next to Moria camp. According to him:

- Fire started 15.30 local time
- No people hurt
- Location of fire is large tent where mainly refugees from Cameroon live.