A hanging boy

A hanging boy

Boy hanging from a horizontal bar at the Moria Reception and Identification Centre. (Lesbos, 2020)

A desperate attempt to stay a child, imprisoned between departure and arrival. Being nowhere, going nowhere. Just spinning around.

Now You See Me Moria

Since August of 2020, an Afghan refugee living in Camp Moria and a photo editor based in the Netherlands have been collecting photos and sharing stories that document life in the camp. Many of the stories were picked up by media outlets, but nothing has changed. After a fire destroyed the first camp in September of 2020, visibility has been reduced to almost zero. Journalists and photographers are not allowed to the new camp and NGO workers are instructed to not take pictures.

Visibility is key to invoke change. That is why the initiators of “Now You See Me Moria” have now invited European and international designers to create a series of posters based on the images shared by the refugees stuck in Moria. All posters are available online, to be printed and spread across Europe by individuals and organisations, on February 14th, Valentine’s Day, 2021.

Government letter

A printed letter, given to the refugees September 17th, 2020, after demonstrations against relocation from the burned down camp to a new temporary accommodation:

Hellenic Republic
Ministry of Migration & Asylum

Official announcement of the Greek Government

Your temporary accommodation centre is ready. Kindly proceed immediately to your arrival to the field. Your residence in that field is mandatory for securing decent conditions of living, for reasons of public and personal health, and for the restart of the asylum procedure, as well. In the field you will be totally safe. Accommodation, alimentation, water, electricity, and items of personal hygiene are provided. Priority is to be given to families and vulnerable groups.

Asylum procedures have normally been commenced anew in the field. We have prepared this field in order for you to await under safety and to depart from Lesvos as soon as possible, complying with the legal procedures. Only in case you arrive to the field, the procedures for departing from Lesvos will be completed.

Attention! Do not listen to fake news but only the official announcements made by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum.

Personal Statement

I know that I can’t emotionally relate in any way to the pain, anger, fear, and sorrow, that the refugees surviving in the so called “Reception and Identification Centres” across Europe, and especially in Moria have to endure. I can just, on a most personal, egoistic level say, that I feel deeply embarrassed.

The deals that are made about the “distribution” of refugees like it’s a game, Frontex, children losing everything, from their parents, to their future, I am part of all of this. Everyone with voting rights in Europe is. We elected the people that present the current situation as a viable solution.

It is not! It is an embarrassment for every European. This is not what I want my kids to learn in school about my generation. And it is my responsibility to actively highlight this failure wherever I have a voice. Just like Rejane Dal Bello proposes: citizen first, designer second.

I am thankful for this special opportunity the “Now You See Me Moria” initiators have given me and many other designers across Europe and the world, to collaborate and work towards a less embarrassing future.

Albert Naasner (Duisburg, 2021)