On the island of Lesbos in Greece, thousands of people wait in lines all day long. They have not showered in days. Their families have been sleeping on cardboard in the streets. Fights break out. Police use batons to break them up. No one expects this kind of thing at the lush, green island. People there expect traditional villages and beautiful birds, not mobs!
Usually, about 100,000 people live on Lesbos. But this summer, 20,000 migrants and refugees set up camp there too. The travelers came from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Many are escaping the brutal Syrian civil war. Some are running away because they don’t want to join the army. Some are afraid the Islamic State will kill them. Others flee poverty. Lesbos is their first stop on the way to European countries that will take them in. But like many other places in the world, Lesbos isn’t ready to handle so many new people at once. Where can they all stay? No one has enough room! Where will their trash go? No one even has space for that! Bottles, plastic bags, and cardboard get thrown into the sea. Litter covers the streets.
This is a time of crisis, or great difficulty and danger. And it isn’t just affecting the people of Lesbos. Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African people are flocking to countries all over Europe. They pack themselves into trains to get to Hungary. They pile into rickety boats to get to Italy. To get to Norway—one of Europe’s richest countries—some even go through Russia on bicycles! In that part of the world, it is illegal for migrants to come in on foot. It is also illegal for local people to give them rides. So the movers pedal through deep snow and temperatures below zero. They usually have to leave their new bicycles behind as they move deeper into Europe.
The world has not seen a migration like this since the end of World War II. Back then, many Europeans left their homes for safer or richer countries. This crisis is so big it will not go away quickly. How will the refugees cope? What about the people of Lesbos? Time will tell . . . lots and lots of time.
