Monthly Report: Paréa Lesvos September 2025
- Joaquin O'Ryan
- Oct 20
- 5 min read
Check out our monthly project update for September 2025 at Paréa Lesvos
The word ‘paréa’ in Greek means “company, circle of friends”: everyone is welcome in Paréa!
Located within walking distance from the CCAC (Closed and Controlled Access Camp) on Lesvos, our community center Paréa Lesvos offers a safe space where people on the move, locals and internationals can meet and spend time in a peaceful and welcoming environment.
Paréa is run by Europe Cares responsible for the safety, major facility costs, maintenance and development of the center. It is also a home to another 10 civil society organisations: Artists Giving Back, Boat Refugee Foundation, Collective Aid, Leave No One Behind, Makerspace Lesvos, Refocus Media Labs, Refugee Relief Doro Blancke, TerraPsy, and Yoga and Sport with Refugees. In a time of high political uncertainty and constant withdrawal of support and international attention from Lesvos, our network of partner organisations joined forces to offer people on the move a wide range of services including food and NFI distributions, legal and psychosocial support, education and social care activities. But first and foremost, we offer a sense of community and belonging.
We are one community in solidarity. Will you join us?
View of Mavrovouni Camp from Paréa Lesvos
LESVOS UPDATES
In September, Lesvos recorded 223 new arrivals and 78 departures, according to Aegean Boat Report (ABR). By the end of the month, 715 people* were living in the Lesvos Closed Controlled Access Center (CCAC).
Across the Aegean Sea, Aegean Boat Report documented 28 pushback incidents in September alone, affecting 806 people — among them children, women, and men. Each case is not just a statistic, but a person denied the right to seek protection, a fundamental guarantee under international law.
Amid these ongoing violations and restrictions on movement, it has been confirmed that the monthly coordination meetings — where humanitarian actors across Lesvos jointly discussed updates on education, shelter, basic needs, protection, and asylum — will now take place exclusively inside the Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC), following a unilateral decision by camp authorities. This change is deeply concerning. For years, civil society organisations working outside the camp have played a vital role in responding to urgent gaps in services that remained unmet or poorly addressed within the CCAC. The coordination meetings were one of the few spaces where these actors could exchange information, identify needs, and coordinate responses in collaboration with UNHCR and other stakeholders. By restricting participation only to organisations registered to operate inside the camp, most NGOs on the island — including Europe Cares and many of its partners at Paréa — are now excluded from the conversation. This decision fragments cooperation and threatens to widen the gap in support for camp residents, leaving their unmet needs even further neglected.
Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, stated in a recent ANT1 interview that Europe must reconsider the overall conditions for granting asylum and strengthen “active deterrence” at the borders. He defended Greece’s “strict but fair” migration policy under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, including the “prison or return” doctrine for rejected asylum seekers. Plevris also linked migration to crime, claiming that 54% of prisoners in Greece are migrants, and voiced agreement with Donald Trump’s stance on migration. This figure must be read with caution. Such statistics often justify harsh migration policies and reinforce false links between migration and crime. In reality, migrants in Greece face systemic profiling, discriminatory policing, and criminalization, leading to higher arrest and detention rates regardless of actual offenses.
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SEPTEMBER IN NUMBERS
Highlight of the month
At the beginning of September Europe Cares got their very own minivan at Paréa! This means, unlike before, the shuttle bus can be driven by our own volunteers and multiple trips can be made between Paréa and the camp.
This offers our visitors more opportunities to travel between the two, and a friendly, familiar face before reaching the gates of Paréa.
In the first 15 days of our new van, we transported 971 passengers, compared to 601 people in the whole of June, 752 people in July, and 590 people in August. For the staff and volunteers at Paréa, knowing that we can offer quick, comfortable, personal, and frequent travel for our visitors has truly changed the way we view the bus service.
We are still deciding on a name for the new addition to Paréa, any suggestions are welcome!
Faces of Paréa
We come to Paréa to have fun and talk to the great people who are here and sometimes to do laundry and to play with the Ps4. We learn things when we come to Paréa that usually we wouldn’t do like art and guitar, and also to practice our English. At Paréa we can be happy and stay far away from the camp. Paréa is good for our mind and our mental health. It’s good for us. Ahmed, Mohammed, Omar - From Afghhanistan
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Meet our partner: Collective Aid
In Paréa, Collective Aid continues to support asylum seekers and refugees through their free clothing shop. Recently, they have expanded their projects to include the distribution of hygiene items and the operation of a laundry service. In September, they also began distributing shoes to visitors — a crucial service for those living in camps. The impact of this was evident in the long queues outside the collection point!
Collective Aid’s efforts in Paréa support a wide range of people, including families with young children and men who are often overlooked in crisis responses. In addition to their work on Lesvos, Collective Aid operates across Europe, providing essential services and raising awareness about the situation of people on the move.
Welcome to our space: The Nest, our Child Friendly Space
This month, The Nest has welcomed our new Protection Officer here at Paréa. It was a particularly busy month at The Nest with many children taking part in arts and crafts, music, bubbles, the playground, and days full of laughter with visits from the clowns from Red Noses International.
The Nest is a space where parents can leave their children (ages 3-12) for the day with our trusted volunteers. This gives the children an opportunity for learning and play in a safe place, and the parents the opportunity to use the other facilities and spaces at Paréa.
This October we are celebrating the 6-month anniversary of the child friendly space. It brings us so much joy that we can keep expanding and growing the colourful and joyful spaces that make up Paréa for everyone that visits the centre.
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