Author Archives: Alex Johnson
Alone in the Sand: Syrian Refugee Children Abandoned by European Governments
In 1938, a young British stockbroker named Nicholas Winton travelled to Prague. On the eve of the Second World War, he evacuated 669 mostly Jewish children from occupied Czechoslovakia to Britain. In the UK he is celebrated as a hero. Just over a year ago, Sir Nicholas Winton died peacefully aged 106. Thanks to him […]
Losing souls to save face: the EU-Turkey deal
There are only six kilometres in the strait of Mytilene between Lesvos and the Ayvalik islands in Turkey. In the summer the deep blues of the eastern Aegean are complemented by a backdrop of lush green and yellow hills from the surrounding islands. In the winter the calm seas swell to short sharp waves as […]
A Janus-faced Europe awaits refugees in 2016
In late summer, as the refugee trail led to the heart of old Europe, tents and shelters started popping up in parks and woods across the continent. Suddenly the new reality of Europe’s proximity to war, hunger and suffering became clear to her populations. No longer were refugees confined to pictures of black dinghies and […]
“Swarms” from “the Jungle”: Calais and the new refugee reality
By Alex Johnson Make no mistake, what’s happening at the Channel Tunnel entrance in Calais is not a temporary crisis. This is not a short term problem, a blip before a return to regular programming. From Lesvos to Lampedusa, from Ceuta to Calais, the flow of desperate people seeking refuge from war and hunger shows […]
The Razor-Wire Curtain: Europe’s New Anti-Migrant Fences
By Alex Johnson Next month will mark the 26th anniversary of the ‘Pan-European Picnic’, a day that changed the face of Europe. On 19 August 1989, Communist Hungary stopped policing its border with Austria, allowing some 600 East Germans holidaying at Lake Balaton to cross over to the West. Soon after, the Hungarian authorities officially […]
“Let them slash their wrists”: Abuse and Detention in the UK Asylum System
By Alex Johnson “They are all slashing their wrists apparently. Let them slash their wrists.” These are the words of a guard at Yarl’s Wood asylum detention centre captured by an undercover film broadcast in March. Staff at the facility were recorded referring to detainees as “animals” and “bitches” while encouraging violence and racism. Following […]
Blood amid the strawberries: Greece’s migrants and the struggle for dignity
By Alex Johnson According to Greek mythology as the beautiful but mortal Adonis bled to death in the arms of Aphrodite, the Goddess wept tears of small red hearts, or strawberries. If you’ve ever tasted a Greek strawberry, it most likely came from the fruit fields of Manolada. The vast rural plain in the western […]
The Migrationist 