“WE ARE HERE” is the message from us to the world. We are here in the Squats, outside of Moria, as a sign against inhuman conditions, racism, fascism and social exclusion.

We are a non-hierarchical, self-organized international group made up of refugees and people choosing to support them.

Our aim is to create a place where refugees and volunteers can live together at the same level and where friends from all around the world have a home to stay; a home where they can feel comfortable and united.

At the moment we are living in 2 squatted buildings with around 60 to 80 persons from 9 different nations, encompassing different religions and cultures. Our project tries to find a peaceful way for people to live together, while respecting and helping each other regardless of origins.

The political situation in the world poses new problems every day. Each person who is living here has an individual story, individual thoughts and individual problems. We try to minimize the frustration and the pressure as a united group as much as possible.

For this, the aspect of social-work in our squats is a very important part of our daily life.

We hope that through the strong relations and connections formed here, we can give each other the mental power to overcome those challenges with dignity.

In this distinctly brutal era, we have to preserve the self-confidence and dignity of each human being. We believe in our capacity to resist the regime of devastation that is undermining those aspects of our lives that we cherish the most: freedom to move and the ability to share and to create relations of respect and curiosity.

We are not here to judge the people for their past, how they have been before and in what situation they found themselves. The only thing that matters is how the people are behaving now and where they see themselves in the future, regardless of what they`ve been in the past. In fact, we try to assist  everybody on the way to achieve their dreams for the future.

People receive boxes containing general food and cooking utensils. This way, everybody is free to create their own daily routine. We are also working together to keep the place clean and comfortable.

On Sundays we are creating a social space on a small beach next to our buildings, where we provide shaded areas, a communal kitchen and coffee, tea and water for those who come to enjoy the beach. Many families from Kara Tepe Camp and Moria Camp are passing by to relax in a quiet atmosphere.

Playing sports together is another important part of the day and given that we have a football, volleyball and basketball field in the big hall of one Squat, sport-related activities and self-organized teams are common.

Also, we try to support each other in earning different languages, basic literacy, cultures and anything else that shows up in our daily life.

Our No Border Social Squats is a political statement that rejects the ideas and political acts of the European Union. We want to make clear that it is not an option to close, build or preserve borders. We believe that the fortress of Europe and its borders must be destroyed to enable free movement of all humans – for showing humanity and solidarity.

We are not here to assist the governments of Europe in its way of dealing with the ‘refugee flow’. This is the reason why we decided to not work together with non-governmental and humanitarian organizations. We are also not registered as an organization or association or as any other kind authoritarian, government-dependent group.

We do cooperate on an informal level with some NGOs on the island when it comes to for example medical needs. Anyone may participate in the activities of the No Border Squats, as long as they do so as an individual rather than as a representative of an NGO or another organization.

Everybody who wants to make the political statement of squatting and helping in times of injustice is welcome to come and live with us. As individuals of different backgrounds, we adhere to the broad terms of Anti-fascism, Anti-racism and Anti-sexism.

We are very thankful to NBK, who continues to support us by delivering and providing us with “food boxes” and gas. Furthermore, we have started to develop in different ways and work on different issues. In order for this to function, it has been necessary to remain as one big group and focus on the main problems of the refugees and the general situation here on Lesvos. For our No Border Squats group the most important aspect of our work is the creation of homes. The creation of a “home” really means creating an atmosphere where people trust and help each other as one family. We know that this is difficult to accomplish, especially in view of the injustice, turmoil and strife in the countries of origin from which many are fleeing.

The continuation of political and economic systems built out of war, injustice and exploitation forces people to migrate.

We reject the ongoing mobilization of massive resources for the purpose of controlling and restricting the migration of those deemed ‘undesirable’ or lacking worth to the capitalist system.

We also reject the increasing militarization of our societies and the erection of walls and borders. We want to fight the distinctions the state and media make between “good” and “bad” migrants based on labels like “refugees”, “economic migrants”, “innocent victims” or “criminals.” We believe in unconditional freedom of movement for all.