Solidarity With Refugee Community During Covid-19

Winter 2020-21 for residents of Katsikas refugee camp

In the midst of a national lockdown which began in November, there were several restrictions on movement and non-essential services were not allowed to operate in Greece. During this time, residents of Katsikas refugee camp felt the effects of the lockdown in the form of restrictions on movement specific to people in the camp (which were not always congruent with the restrictions on general movement), limited access to essential services, delays on asylum procedures, disruption to education and greater difficulty finding work opportunities are particularly challenging for people who found themselves excluded from society already before the beginning of the pandemic. Those living in camps also face a greater risk of infection due to overcrowding and the lack of robust sanitation structures. However, no special quarantine facilities were put in place in the camp, and individuals that contracted the virus were required to quarantine in place alongside other (healthy) residents of their small living containers (even if these had tested negative). It is disheartening to see that the reaction of the authorities aims at restricting this community stronger instead of improving their living conditions and thus reducing the risk of infection. 

Having evidenced the effects of these dubious policies and protocols, our team at Habibi.Works aimed to raise awareness about the situation through our blog, in which we outlined the questionable quarantine policies being enforced in the camp as well as the forced evictions of camp residents, who have no viable alternatives for accommodation, in the middle of winter. Speaking out about the reality inside refugee camps is essential, but increasingly difficult. Grassroots organisations and NGOs working with asylum seeker and refugee communities in Greece continue to face challenges in this context. One troubling development has been the increasing criminalisation of NGOs and civil society organisations. Choose Love (Help Refugees) has reported on the alarming situation - read more here. Habibi.Works continues to provide regular context updates, overviewing the situation for asylum seekers and refugees in Greece, via our Instagram channel. Follow us on Instagram and watch out for our Context Update stories every Saturday.

Habibi.Works springs back into action

Fortunately, in February, the government allowed essential repairs to open - springing the Habibi.Works team in Katsikas back into action. 

As a makerspace, Habibi.Works is a site both for essential repairs and creative projects. Users - referred to as "makers" in our space - are invited to enter the space and pick any working area they would like to make use of. This can be in the: wood workshop, metal workshop, bicycle repair workshop, MediaLab, sewing atelier, creative area, electronics workshop, library, garden or gym. In these areas, they have access to materials, tools and guidance from an expert in that particular working area. While several of our guided workshops and group activities had to be put on hold during strict lockdowns, the easing of restrictions at the start of the year meant that several critical activities could still take place: repairing clothing in the sewing atelier and making new clothing, repairing bicycles, weather-proofing baby prams, and building furniture (to name just a few!).

In February Habibi.Works took part in the Project for Awesome 2021 competition by submitting a video featuring several areas of Habibi.Works in a unique way. Have a look - or rather, a listen ;) 

Looking forward to 2021

2021 promises to be an exciting year for collaborations for Habibi.Works! The makerspace is currently witnessing the construction of a brand new workshop area: Re.Works - a plastic upcycling workshop which will see plastic waste turned into beautiful, practical items! The workshop is being set up in collaboration with Precious Plastic Samos and Not for Your Distinction e.V. Beyond becoming a space where individuals can grow their awareness of sustainable practices and the fascinating process of upcycling plastic waste, the workshop area will also engage local communities to clean up plastic in their areas, setting up multiple collection points for everyone to use. Our first community plastic cleanup took place on 24 April; we expect this to be the first of many!

The outdoor gym of Habibi.Works will soon get an upgrade: a new bouldering wall, built in collaboration with Spanish organisation Maika'i.

Later this year, Habibi.Works will be a stop on The Walk with Amal - a "walk of hope" during which little Amal (a life-sized puppet representing a young refugee) will make the journey from Syria to the UK. We look forward to welcoming Amal in Kastikas in late August.

Your support is critical to keeping Habibi.Works open for members of the local Greek community, refugee and asylum seeker communities and international makers. To continue to find ways to show your solidarity with the Katsikas refugee community, follow us on Instagram or Facebook.