Learning from Lesbos

Learning from Lesbos 

21

Recommendation 1

In light of the need to ensure 

accountability towards local 

authorities and host populations, 

as well as to people forced to flee 

armed conflict and persecution, 

humanitarians should engage local 

actors such as municipal authorities 

early in an emergency response.

RELATED URBAN PRINCIPLES

 

Working within context

Partnerships and collaboration

Recommendation 2

Humanitarians responding to 

urban crises must strive to achieve 

effective coordination across the 

entire spectrum of actors engaged 

in an emergency response, including 

local authorities, NGOs, affected 

communities (displaced and host),  

and volunteer individuals and groups.  

Formal partnerships can be a  

productive way to engage  

stakeholders less experienced 

in  humanitarian response. 

RELATED URBAN PRINCIPLES 

Working within context

Partnerships and collaboration

Recommendations  

While the Lesbos refugee crisis is unique, lessons learned from the IRC’s emergency 

response on the island do offer insights and recommendations that are likely to 

be relevant for humanitarian operations in urban environments elsewhere. 

The following recommendations are meant to serve as guiding principles rather 

than as specific formulas to be rigidly applied, and they aim to balance the need 

to ensure an effective and timely response in the short term with a view to early 

recovery and the aim of ensuring positive outcomes in the longer term.

right: Some of the many shelters erected at Kara Tepe  

once INGOs intervened in the site.  

Samer Saliba/IRC

opposite: Ali, 4, and his father at the Kara Tepe site. Ali lost his 

hearing when a bomb was dropped close to his home in Aleppo 

when he was only five months old. He is unable to speak or hear 

and requires surgery. After the bombing his mother moved him and 

his siblings to Lebanon where they have been for the past three 

years, saving until they could make the journey onward to Europe.

Tyler Jump/IRC

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Learning from Lesbos 

22

Recommendations    

(continued)

Recommendation 3

While the complexity of the urban 

environment presents many challenges, 

humanitarians nonetheless need to 

ensure the meaningful participation of 

the local community in planning and 

implementing the emergency response. 

Doing so can reduce the risk of social 

tensions, and even has the potential to 

strengthen social cohesion between 

displaced and host populations. 

Moreover, fully engaging the capacity 

of civil society can improve the reach 

and appropriateness of humanitarian 

programming, promote the 

dissemination of reliable information 

and counter misinformation 

and rumours, and increase 

transparency and accountability.

RELATED URBAN PRINCIPLES

 

Recovery and resilience

Recommendation 4

Humanitarians should strive to 

deliver emergency assistance via 

existing urban systems wherever 

possible, rather than making direct 

service provision their default mode 

of operation. At the same time, they 

should endeavour to identify gaps 

and weaknesses in existing systems 

in order to support local actors to 

strengthen their capacity and to ensure 

an effective and sustainable response.

RELATED URBAN PRINCIPLES

 

Working within context

Partnerships and collaboration

above: In the summer of 2015, as the arrivals crisis on Lesbos began  

to peak, many refused to stay at Kara Tepe; they bought tents and 

pitched them at the port in Mytilene instead. Those who chose to stay 

outside the camp still had to return every day to hear if their number 

was read in order for them to continue their journey to mainland Europe. 

Tyler Jump/IRC

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Learning from Lesbos 

23

Terms of Reference 

With a focus on the urban dynamics of the Lesbos 

refugee crisis, specific research questions included:

1 

In what capacity is the IRC supporting 

the municipal government of Lesbos and 

how effective is this collaboration?

2 

Are the IRC’s actions reducing social tensions 

between host and refugee populations? Is this 

an intended outcome of its programming?

3 

Have adjustments to emergency programming 

approaches been made in recognition of the urban 

operating environment? As the IRC expands its 

programming, are programming models being 

adjusted further to take into account the urban 

environment and associated stakeholders? 

Approach

The research for this report sought to gain insight 

from multiple perspectives of those affected by or 

responding to the refugee crisis on Lesbos. It combines 

primary qualitative data (gathered via observational 

field visits and semi-structured interviews on Lesbos) 

with desk-based research on the Lesbos response. 

The resulting findings prioritise evidence specific to the 

Lesbos response. It is not, therefore assumed that the 

findings and recommendations made here would apply 

equally in other regions. Rather, they are meant to serve as 

a case study, and to contribute to the ongoing conversation 

around improving urban humanitarian response. 

The IRC’s Urban Response Learning Manager 

conducted all research for this report.

Process

Desk-based Research 

The IRC conducted a desk review of:

 

k

Media reports: Focusing on the refugee crisis between 

June 2015 and March 2016. These articles provide 

background on the crisis before international NGOs 

became heavily involved beginning in August 2015. 

 

k

Research, assessment, or evaluation 

products internal to the IRC, including: 

 

»

A real-time evaluation of the emergency response  

in Greece (conducted in November 2015)  

which consulted 28 IRC staff, seven UN and  

peer agencies, and six local partners and  

municipal authorities. 

 

»

Records of focus group discussions with Greek 

residents and community groups conducted in 

Molyvos in November 2015. The IRC conducted 

seven focus groups with a total of 49 participants. 

 

»

The report of an Economic Recovery and 

Development Assessment conducted to inform 

future economic programming on Lesbos.  

The assessment included focus group discussions 

and household-level surveys of the refugee 

population, focus group discussions with participants 

from the host population and local business owners, 

and key informant interviews with representatives of 

the local municipality and NGOs active on the island. 

The data was collected during October 2015. 

Annex A: Detailed Methodology

below: The surge of refugees to Lesbos coincided with the height 

of the tourist season. This meant the ferries to the mainland were 

overfilled with a mix of refugees and tourists. 

Tyler Jump/IRC

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