Remembering PIKPA

Together with our partners from LESVOS Solidarity we visited the place of the former Camp PIKPA which was an independent, open refugee camp in Mytilini. It was a community-based space, built on the principles of solidarity, empowerment and active participation. It was closed by the local government in October 2020. The residents of the camp were moved by police forces to the municipal camp of Kara Tepe.

„In Pikpa camp a new way of being together, embedded in local society, is being created. Above all, we want to build an environment where people can find dignity, love, safety and respect. Pikpa camp offers a sense of belonging, home and community.“ (https://lesvossolidarity.org/en/who-we-are/history/pikpa-camp

The residents of the camp have been among the most vulnerable refugees in the island; people who suffered from serious medical conditions, victims of torture and violence, large families with children, pregnant women, newborns, LGBTI people, lone women and men, and victims of shipwrecks who lost loved ones at sea. The people from LESVOS Solidarity estimated that since 2012 over 30,000 individuals have been hosted in Pikpa camp. No one could understand that this camp was closed.

 

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