Learning from Lesbos

Learning from Lesbos 

15

The Role of Civil Society in an Emergency Response:  

The Aphrodite Hotel in Molyvos 

It was on April 27, 2016 that the first boat came ashore amid diners stretched along the 

beachfront at the Aphrodite Hotel, unloading 11 adults, four children, and a man paralysed 

from the waist down, all overwhelmed with relief to have survived the perilous voyage.

At the height of the crisis, in the middle of the tourist 

season, the hotel would see as many as seven boats 

a day arrive on its small stretch of shoreline and hotel 

staff worked around the clock to take care of their 

guests as well as to provide support – food and water, 

access to hotel facilities to shelter and get clean, first 

aid and logistical help, just to mention a few of their 

activities – to the new arrivals, often using the hotel’s 

van to transport them to the centre of town, where 

they could either find someone willing to drive them 

to Mytilene, or set out to make the journey on foot. 

The majority of international NGOs and foreign volunteers 

began arriving on the island in September four months 

after the arrival of that first boat at the Aphrodite Hotel. 

The response that followed was characterised by a serious 

lack of coordination, with a multitude of organisations and 

individuals working independently, without cooperation or 

collaboration. In the chaos that ensued, the management 

and staff of the Aphrodite Hotel felt that they were left to 

deal with the situation without any assistance from Greek 

authorities, their efforts neither recognised nor respected. 

Even the normal considerations that would be 

expected were often being neglected, with people 

– refugees, migrants, volunteers and professional 

humanitarian actors alike – simply coming and going 

from the hotel without consultation or permission. 

Unsurprisingly, this situation generated resentment 

on the part of the management and staff of the hotel 

towards the local government and other responders. 

Delays in taking concrete steps to provide assistance 

to refugees and migrants and support to the local 

community, who were trying to help new arrivals at 

the same time as they watched the crisis negatively 

impact their own livelihoods. As Aphrodite Vati Mariola, 

whose family owns the hotel, states, “It’s like I invite 

you to my home and cook for you and then you tell 

me how to manage my household… I can’t begin to 

stress how frustrating it is when the local community 

is bypassed, ignored, or looked down upon, even.” 

below: The beachfront at the Aphrodite Hotel – new arrivals, along 

with their dinghies and life jackets, can be seen by the shoreline. 

Aphrodite Vati Mariola/Aphrodite Hotel

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Learning from Lesbos 

16

Key Findings  

(continued)

In light of these tensions, the IRC, in partnership with 

the hotel’s owners, worked to establish a safer and more 

orderly process of transporting new arrivals to the hotel. 

An IRC staff member was also available on call to help 

the hotel to manage the process. The hotel’s owners 

welcomed this partnership and acknowledged the IRC 

as one of the few international NGOs in Molyvos that 

had recognised and shown appreciation for the hotel’s 

efforts as a civil society stakeholder in the response. 

More importantly, the IRC ensured there was genuine 

consultation with the local community. It was essential 

to understand their perspectives and challenges so 

that interventions met the immediate needs of refugees 

and migrants as well as benefiting local people, who 

were also facing this new reality. “When someone 

comes along and shows genuine interest in working 

together with the local community, it can make all the 

difference in the world,” said Aphrodite Vati Mariola.

It should be noted, too, that local actors – even those 

actively working to contribute to the emergency response 

– are themselves impacted by the crisis. While some of 

the Aphrodite’s guests were understanding of the difficult 

situation the hotel was in, on the front-line of the crisis, 

as it were, many bookings were cancelled. The hotel 

experienced a 65 per cent drop in visitor numbers for 

the summer of 2016 while reservations from the town’s 

tour operators overall were 80 per cent down from the 

prior year. Many tourism-based businesses have since 

closed and the unemployment rate in Molyvos is high. 

What’s more, social tensions among locals have increased, 

with extreme right and extreme left voices frequently 

engaging in verbal altercations. Given the pre-existing 

economic crisis in Greece, this is a financial and social 

setback that the town can ill afford, and it remains to 

be seen how it will cope. Many tourism operators in 

Molyvos have been similarly impacted, and it is vital 

that humanitarian actors are alert to the vulnerabilities 

of the host population as well as the new arrivals. 

above: The Aphrodite Hotel made both its staff and services 

available to new arrivals on Molyvos, greatly aiding them on their way 

to Mytilene for registration. 

Aphrodite Vati Mariola/Aphrodite Hotel

“ 

When someone comes along and 

shows genuine interest in working 

together with the local community,  

it can make all the difference  

in the world.

”

below: The beachfront at the Aphrodite Hotel in quieter times

Samer Saliba/IRC

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