Lesbos: Europe’s migrant barrier nears breaking point
LESBOS, Greece — At the heart of Moria, an overcrowded refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, is a dark rectangular building ringed with police guards and coils of razor wire. Taking photographs of it is prohibited.
It’s here that thousands of migrants are interviewed by asylum officers — and ultimately informed whether they will ever be allowed to leave the island.
Holding up a tattered asylum card that reads “Forbidden to travel outside Lesbos,” 40-year-old Syrian Ziad Rashid said he was supposed to be deported back to Turkey after he unsuccessfully appealed his failed application. But Turkey’s effective refusal to re-admit migrants means there’s nowhere he can go.
“I’ve been here for two years,” says Rashid, struggling to find the words in broken Greek and English. “It’s a big problem.”