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
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
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