Refugees forced to uproot again as Greece closes ‘safe’ camp

Crowds moved from Kara Tepe, an environment with childcare and regular food aid, to Mavrovouni, where rape has been reported.

Mytilene, Lesbos – Anis Alizai arrived in Lesbos with her parents and four siblings in December 2018. After sleeping rough for seven months in the olive groves around Moria camp, the Greek island’s main reception centre at the time, the Afghan refugee family were granted a coveted modular housing unit at Kara Tepe, a municipal camp seen as an example of humanity and solidarity since it was created in 2016. Anis, now 17, dreams of studying mathematics at the University of Patras, one of Greece’s most competitive technical universities, and she is determined to succeed.