#lesvos island

[gatomhtera]

η γατομητερα στη Μυτιλήνη 🤍

[mote-historie]

George Barbier, Les Amours pastorales de Daphnis et Chloé, 1918.

The subject of Daphnis and Chloe is distinguished from other Greek novels by its bucolic setting and the constant irony which governs the course of the action.

It is above all their sentimental education which is described throughout the adventures of the novel. The two protagonists live in the countryside, near the city of Mytilene on the islandof Lesbos. Daphnis is a young goatherd, a child found by shepherds (in a laurel grove, hence his name which comes from the ancient Greek δάφνη (daphnè), laurel). Chloé, for her part, is a shepherdess, also a foundling. They grow up in a pastoral setting and fall in love with each other, but multiple twists and turns prevent them from satisfying their love. However, the outcome is a comedy: the two children are recognized by their respective parents, who are rich people from Mytilene, lifelong friends, and who are going to marry them. (x)

[lesvosisland]

Lesvos Island

[aristandroz]

[monogreek]

Bay of Yera (Lesvos) by Theofilos Hadjimichael (1871-1934)

[aretis]

📍Lesvos island,Greece 🇬🇷

Lesvos summer guide 2024

@foodcouple_gr

Καλημέρα Ελλάδα!

[eretxskullcrusher]

I just found these pictures from when I was in vacation at Samos (its a Greek island- I'm also from Greece,from the island of Lesvos) and me and my family had found this gorgeous Chameleon (the one out of the two species that live in my country). It's super rare to find one, because of their likeness of staying in one place and rarely moving. The way we found it was so funny. My dad first thought it was just a lizard,but the he saw it moved way slower and he understood it was something else. Before he could stop,he actually ran over it, thankfully not harming it. He then stopped the car and we both jumped out, approaching the animal. We immediately understood it was a Chameleon and I of course did the obvious thing since I LOVE lizards, snakes,etc. I took it on my hands and started climbing onto me. It was such an amazing experience! Here are some of the pictures we took.

[mariacallous]

New regulations on the screening of non-EU nationals at the bloc’s external borders, which come into force this week, could have major implications for migrants and asylum seekers’ privacy rights, campaigners warn.

Ozan Mirkan Balpetek, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator for Legal Centre Lesvos, an island in Greece on the so-called Balkan Route for migrants seeking to reach Western Europe, says the new pact “will significantly expand the Eurodac database [European Asylum Dactyloscopy Database], creating overlaps with other databases, such as international criminal records accessible to police forces”.

“Specific provisions of the pact directly undermine GDPR regulations that protect personal data from being improperly processed,” Balpetek told BIRN. “The pact only expands existing rights violations, including data breaches. Consequently, information shared by asylum seekers can be used against them during the asylum process, potentially leading to further criminalization of racialized communities,” he added.

The European Council confirmed the deal in May, and it should start being implemented in June 2026.

This legislation sets out new procedures for managing the arrival of irregular migrants, processing asylum applications, determining the EU country responsible for these applications, and devising strategies to handle migration crises.

The pact promises a “robust” screening at the borders to differentiate between those people deemed in need of international protection and those who are not.

The screening and border procedures will mandate extensive data collection and automatic exchanges, resulting in a regime of mass surveillance of migrants. Reforms to the Eurodac Regulation will mandate the systematic collection of migrants’ biometric data, now including facial images, which will be retained in databases for up to 10 years. The reform also lowers the thresholder for storing data in the system to the age of six.

Amnesty International in Greece said the new regulation “will set back European asylum law for decades to come”.

“These proposals come hand in hand with mounting efforts to shift responsibility for refugee protection and border control to countries outside of the EU – such as recent deals with Tunisia, Egypt, and Mauritania – or attempts to externalize the processing of asylum claims to Albania,” the human rights organisation told BIRN.

“These practices risk trapping people in states where their human rights will be in danger, render the EU complicit in the abuses that may follow, and compromises Europe’s ability to uphold human rights beyond the bloc,” it added.

NGOs working with people in need have been warning for months that the pact will systematically violate fundamental principles, resulting in a proliferation of rights violations in Europe.

Jesuit Refugee Services, including its arm in Croatia, said in April in a joint statement that it “cannot support a system that will enable the systematic detention of thousands of people, including children, at the EU’s external borders.

“The proposed legislation will exponentially increase human suffering while offering no real solutions to current system deficiencies,” JRS said.

Despite criticism, the European Parliament adopted the regulation in April.

Individuals who do not meet the entry requirements will be registered and undergo identification, security, and health checks. These checks are to be completed within seven days at the EU’s external borders and within three days for those apprehended within the EU.

Under the new system, EU member states can either accept a minimum of 30,000 asylum applicants annually or contribute at least 20,000 euros per asylum applicant to a joint EU fund.

After screening, individuals will be swiftly directed into one of three procedures: Border Procedures, Asylum Procedures, or Returns Procedures.

[lesvosisland]

Lesvos Island

[thisandthat-whatever]

Random ask :) Me and my friends just booked our summer vacation to Lesvos, and one of the must dos is a day excursion to Ayvalik since it's so close. I remember you posting about spending time there in your childhood, but I'm not sure if you have been there more recently. In any case, if you have any suggestions etc I would love to hear them.

Oh, I have spent many many summers there. But I haven’t there for years…. Actually my mother’s side was from there (like my mother and all my mother’s side is from Ayvalik hence us going there in the summers as opposed to other summer vacation towns).

Anyway, first of all, of course have a walk through Ayvalik’s old downtown center.

And for swimming , the best beaches I would recommend are in “Sarımsaklı” which you can take a shared minivan service to get to from the Ayvalik center. Sarimsakli is very, very long, so it has different beach clubs and so on. I haven’t been there for years, so many of those places may have changed, but the sea is most beautiful in the Sarmsakli and Badavut regions.

If you show a local this sentence: “kamplarin oldugu taraf “, they will direct you to the better parts of Sarimsakli for the beaches. It is where certain camps (kamp) are and the entrance to the beach I am talking about is in between the camps and it is free. It is not typical camp. It is more like for example like a resort facility for people who have a certain vocation or job. Hard to explain. 😬

I also advise you to go to Cunda Island which is connected to Ayvalik by a bridge but don’t take a car, and instead take the boat ride from center of Ayvalik. Go to Cunda around late afternoon. Walk through its flea markets. It has a lot of old Greek architecture there including a Greek church. And then definitely go to one of the many seafood restaurants that are placed next to each other by the sea. And I recommend you to eat fried calamari and also stuffed (stuffed with seasoned rice) mussels as some of your appetizers. But do not go to Cunda island for swimming. The sea there is just meh. Sarimsakli’s sea is better.

Then if you have enough time , take a ride up to the “Seytan Sofrasi” ( Devil’s feast). There is a silly big foot print-like thing there that people named “devil’s foot print”, lol. See pics below. Anyway, people go there for the stunning views because it is at the top of one of the mountains. And there is a tea house there, so you can enjoy the view and have tea one afternoon.

[artsimpourtzi]

Your summer 2024 pictures have me on floor wanting another beach holiday 😩 how was it? the beaches look so peaceful also do you live close to a beach

I had a great time (and technically my vacation is still not over, I just went back home 😎). I visited Lesvos for the first time, which was great, though it’s a big island and I’m used to a much smaller scale from the one I grew up in so it’s not my cup of tea always, but it had the great advantage of not being as touristy as the Cyclades which made everything feel infinitely more peaceful. We also took advantage and visited Ayvalik which was nice. And ate copious amounts of food in both places (I managed to gain 3,5 kg in 10 days, I feel almost proud).

And you could say I live close to the beach, as I live in Athens and technically the beaches are close, we just tend to not like them given we have higher standards from the islands (which are also close by so we win).

[mijashdi]

[justice league america (1989) #93]

u have to be kidding me. lesvos is jusr another spelling of lesbos. power girl(kara) is having maternity leave on the island of lesbos.

[mariacallous]

Greece’s coast guard has denied allegations of pushing back 47 Afghans from the sea area off the Greek island of Lesvos in the northern Aegean.

A video published on social media by the Aegean Boat Report, ABR, a Norwegian NGO, shows the Greek coast guard illegally pushing back 47 people from Greek to Turkish waters.

According to ABR, Greek coast guard men wearing masks stopped the rubber vessel on October 6 as it crossed Greek waters and forced people into two life rafts, leaving them helplessly drifting.

“The Officers of the Greek Coast Guard, who are responsible for guarding the maritime borders of Greece and the European Union, operate 24/7 with efficiency, a high sense of responsibility, professionalism, but also absolute respect for human life and human rights,” the coast guard’s spokesperson, lieutenant commander Nikolaos Alexiou told BIRN on Monday. He said the coast guard operates in line with international laws, something that is recognized internationally.

Alexiou said the allegations of illegal action were “biased”, as Greek authorities do not use such methods.

“Regarding biased allegations of alleged illegal acts, we must emphasize that the operational practices of the Greek Authorities do not include such methods. In any case, however, in cooperation with the judicial authorities and other co-competent bodies, there are relevant control mechanisms, where required,” Alexiou added.

According to ABR’s report, the coast guard’s operation took place in front of the eyes of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex.

“The Fundamental Rights Office is aware of the media reporting and is looking into it the case,” Frontex’s Press Office told BIRN.

At least 79 migrants were found dead on June 14 after a fishing boat, allegedly with 400 to 750 people on board, sunk off Pylos in the Peloponnese. The Greek authorities have been accused of not immediately reacting to rescue the migrants.

[max-graef-lakin]

Seán Binder: the hypocrisy of EU border policy

In 2018 Seán Binder was arrested and detained on the Greek island of Lesvos while working for the search and rescue organisation ERCI. In the three years before its criminalisation, ERCI helped 55,000 asylum seekers at risk of drowning while crossing the Mediterranean.

The list of charges levelled at Seán and his 23 co-defendants – including activists Sara Mardini and Nassos Karakitsos – is long and bizarre: espionage, facilitating illegal migration, belonging to a criminal organisation, money laundering, and using an encrypted messaging service (WhatsApp). 

Since ERCI was shut down, 20,822 people have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, in the name of preventing smuggling, the EU has invested tens of billions into securing its borders and allowed hundreds more humanitarian workers to be arrested and criminalised for saving lives.

Read more.