Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

From Compassion To Resistance: Lesbos Refugee Crisis, Luz Diaz

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

“What would I do if I wasn’t given freedom? I would protest every day.” This illustrates the empathy that locals in Lesbos shared with the struggles of refugees when the European Refugee Crisis arrived on the shores of Lesbos in 2015. Locals on the island helped refugees get off boats—or saved them from the water—and offered to take them to the city center to claim asylum. But soon, with the arrival of humanitarian aid organizations, life on Lesbos changed considerably. Meanwhile, refugees continue to sit in camps that are over capacity to await asylum processing. Echoing the frustration on the …