Get a mobile library to refugee camps in Greece

Hello there everyone,

as the world seems to be pulling itself apart we do our best to continue our work here in the camps around Athens. Busy sessions, many books and requests, a lot of chess and dominoes. We have been asked for novels, Charles Dickens and the history of Africa right the way through to Kant in Arabic. The books that we brought back from Cairo, featuring many new books by Sudanese writers and about Sudan have disappeared from the library like hotcakes. We only hope that they will be returned...

The sessions are varied, light-hearted and keep the coordinators on their toes regarding requests. One recent request was a mother in Thiva camp who regularly asks for PDF print-offs in order to teach her children Arabic. She tells us, "we came to Europe to offer our children a future. My children will learn here in Europe, but they will also learn their own culture and study Arabic, they are even getting online lessons!"

Recently a new collective called the Camp Network has published a short report (re)introducing the dire reality that people are faced with living in whilst their asylum claims are examined. We have attached it to this message for anyone who would like to read more. It includes information on a protest that happened at Oinofyta where Kurdish families were trying to submit complaints firstly about the huge delay in their asylum claim and secondly their treatment at the hands of the camp manager. Since this protest we are happy to observe that the majority of the families got their applications accepted, but others have not been so fortunate. 

Another report just released describes the horror that some asylum seekers and migrants have faced at the border - being forced by the Greek border police to participate in pushing back other migrants who make it over the land border between Greece and Turkey. Pushbacks have been widely reported on for many years, although the Greek government denies using this tactic, illegal under international law. This new report goes deeper, showing how the most vulnerable and frightened people that enter Europe have their language skills weaponised to continue the illegal and violent activity of pushbacks. 

As we mentioned in our previous report it is 10 years this year since ECHO library first rolled out of its parking spot to the camps in northern Greece. As part of the celebrations our most dedicated (and mad) volunteer Tulsi is walking 100km in 24hours with her friend Carla next month. Their aim is to help raise enough money to be able to provide ECHO with money to buy a new van when we need it. Please consider supporting them or sharing their amazing campaign with friends and family. 

As always, thank you for your continued support for our library. We could not continue this work without you.

Becka & Giulio

Links:

• We Are Solomon - forced illegal pushbacks

• Camp Report 1 2026 (PDF)