Children of the Migrant Crisis: Tonight
Tonight at 7.30pm on ITV - a special episode of the Tonight programme from the Greek islands.
It’s over a year since desperate mass migration across Europe’s southern borders began to bring tragic and distressing images to our television screens.
We meet the dedicated British volunteers working to help vulnerable families and orphaned children.
Rebecca Michaelides is originally from West London and now lives in Lesbos. A year ago she felt compelled to help when she saw refugees washing up on the nearby shores. As an independent volunteer not affiliated with any charity she has been helping to coordinate independent rescuers and volunteers on the southwest coast of Lesbos. Rebecca is part of the huge unofficial response to Europe’s migrant crisis.
When Rebecca isn’t working to help refugees come ashore she helps out in the many camps on Lesbos. Thats where she met two year old Fatima and her mother and family. They are currently in a camp called Kara Tepe. She’s one of nearly 1,000 refugees here, living in a tent with limited access to medical treatment.
On the nearby island of Chios, Kanwar Singh and the Khalsa Aid team have worked for months assisting refugees. A group of refugees has been recently saved and brought back to shore. Among this latest group of arrivals, the Khalsa Aid team find a young Syrian boy. He appears to be travelling on his own.
The volunteers make the Greek Police and the other welfare workers aware - but after waiting all day, the boy stays with the family he’s travelled with - and later they’re all taken to the island’s detention centre.
Since December over 150 youngsters who were traveling alone have ended up at a children’s refuge on the island - the Ark of the World. With the Ark Of The World primarily being a facility for Greek children, this extra influx of minors has stretched their resources. Khalsa Aid helps the Ark’s small but committed team not only with additional food drops but also with additional English language lessons in the on site classroom.
Many of these unaccompanied minors told Kanwar and his team about their terrifying journeys from their homelands.
In many of the camps there are large numbers of families with young children.
When fighters took over his home, Mahmoud fled from Syria with his wife and four small daughters. A medical condition means he’s blind in one eye. If he doesn’t get an operation in the next few weeks, he’ll lose his sight completely causing obvious heartache amongst his wife and daughters.
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