FLOTSAM
© 2015 by Anna Pantelia.
Mobile phones, torn-apart passports, shoes, clothes, armbands and lifejackets are just some of the items that you will see while walking across the northeastern coast of Lesvos. Thousands of vulnerable people arrive in plastic inflatable boats, where the dream of a better life becomes a nightmare and the nightmare becomes a dream.
Flotsam reveal personal stories of a survival trip. Personal belongings traveled hundreds of kilometres, crossed the East, reached to the gate of the West and remained there forever, along with hundreds of others which are on the bottom of the Aegean sea.
Most refugees leave their homelands with only a few things. On the way, many of their belongings are lost; those who managed to get to Izmir and sneaked into a boat might be dumped on the sea. However, some of them have reached the Greek coast. Here, the load will decrease again and in many cases, the identity must be lost in order to eliminate any possibility of returning back home.
This project connects belongings found on the coast of Lesvos with real stories of refugees passed from the island, one object - one life story.
Hajar, 25 and Khayriyyah 4 from Afghanistan: I came here with my niece. She has no parents so I declaired to the police that she is my daughter so they don’t separate us. Sept 9, 2015
Edris, 21 from Afghanistan: We tried to cross the Greek-Turkish border, our boat was return back to Turkey by the Turkish coast guard for the first time. The smuggler told us to tear apart our passports the moment we arrive to the coast of Lesvos. Sept 7 ,2015
Ahmed 17, Syria: I'm traveling alone to Austria where my aunt is waiting for me. Lesvos, 7 2015
Azaa, 17: I am a third generation Palestinian in Syria. I have neither Syrian nor Palestinian passport and I am not recognized as a citizen of by these countries. I can not withdraw any money as I have no passport and I have been waiting for 8 days in the informal camp of Kara Tepe in Lesvos. Sept 9, 2015
Ibrahim, 31, from Syria: My family and I were accused to be members of the Muslim Brotherhood. I didn’t meet my father until I was 22 as he was facing execution in Syria so he fled to Kuwait. After 22 years he came back to Syria where he was jailed for 5 years until his death. We are stigmatised and we are unable to find a job in Syria. Therefore I moved to Qatar with my wife and my 2 year old daughter . I used to work as a banker until I received a phone call informing me that I should leave the country within 48 hours. And I left. Sept, 6 2015
Omar, 21 from Gaza : I used to live in Turkey for many years, I spent almost half of my life there but I was always going back to Gaza to see my mother and my siblings. My father is in Austria and I haven’t seen him for years. Even though I speak turkish,Turkey has no opportunities for foreigners so I decided to go and find my father in Austria. I speak no English and no German but I want to learn and study business management. Sept 8, 2015,
Sayid, 26 from Homs, Syria: I am traveling only with a small backpack. The smugglers told us to dump most of our belongings in the sea so the boat would be more stable. I kept my phone, a small bottle of water, some clothes and some food to keep me full when hungry. Sept 9,2015
Fadi, 25 from Afghanistan: He wants to study engineering in Germany and he loves cars. His dream is to work in auto-mobile industry and has promised to himself to quit smoking once he is in Germany. Sept 9, 2015.
Omar, 3, Gaza (His Father): Look at my children, I don’t want to suffer anymore. I sold everything I had and took my family to Europe for a better future, we were sleeping on the streets of Izmir for 3 days without food. Sept 8, 2015
Ramesh, 26, Afghanistan: My wife gave birth last night in the hospital of Lesvos. She gave birth to a girl! I hope we will manage to leave the island soon. We are planning to go to Austria. Sept, 5th 2015
Maan 5, from Syria decided to come to Europe after his dad was killed during the Syrian war. He is staying with his mother inside the area of the port of Mitilini. Sept 8, 2015
Firaz 30, from Syria: I left the country when my wife was killed by a barrel bomb. I took my son and left my job, my house and I am heading to Germany where my far relatives live. My son believes that we are going on holiday in Europe and we will be back home soon. Sept 7, 2015
Abu, 27 from Syria: I am the only son of the family and I want to go to the university so I decided to come to Europe. I want to go to Sweden or Germany. I travelled all the way alone and I have spent about 5000 dollars. I paid 2000 dollars to the driver in Syria to drive me 200km without having to stop in any check point. If they had caught us they would have killed both of us. Sept 8, 2015
Fellah: Me, my husband and our 3-months-old son has been waiting already 4 days to get registered so we could be transferred to Athens. We are sleeping on the streets and we have many expenses. Lesvos, Sept 4, 2015
Abo, 3, and his family from Kabul has just arrived in the Greek coast of Lesvos. His father: In Afghanistan young boys are often sexually abused by pedophiles. They come one night and they ask for your son. We had to leave. Sept 8, 2015
Ali, 14: My twin brother and I, from Syria have just arrived on an inflatable boat to the Greek coast of Lesvos. We used to live to the countryside with our family and have our own farm, now we are heading to Sweden, Sept 8, 2015
