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Cecily N. Bright

Mr. O’Grady

Contemporary World Issues

9 May 2019

Immigration Crisis: Greece

Hello Mr. President, my name is Cecily Bright from the Central Intelligence Agency and

I am writing you to share my concern for the immigration crisis that Greece is currently

experiencing. I feel that since the United States is historically known for speaking up for those

who cannot speak for themselves, it is our duty to help Greece financially during this tumultuous

time. As you are well aware, the Greek economy is far from stable and has been for a while now,

and this crisis is doing nothing to help it; in fact it is making it worse than it has ever been. My

concern for this country stems from my great love for it. I have travelled there in the past and fall

more in love every time I visit. The history that it holds, the architecture and the beautiful people

who live there make the country the icon that it is.

Overcrowding is a major issue for these islands. The most overcrowded being Samos,

Lesbos and Moria. The conditions of these places is unimaginable. There are feces on the floors

of the bathrooms, limited food sources and trash littering the ground. Although the unsanitary

living conditions are a big deal, safety is also a major concern, especially the safety of women.

Being a woman myself, I understand what these women are feeling on a minor scale, but they

have it so much worse. Some women compare living in the camps to being in prison. They feel

trapped at night and are afraid to use their segregated bathrooms because the men took control of

them and just about everything else in the camps. At night the men party and become

intoxicated, prompting the women to stay inside their tents in fear of being attacked. Rape is not
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uncommon in these camps and suicide rates among women are very high. While living in these

camps, women have had to travel in groups when they go out, during the day. None of them dare

go anywhere at night, not even the bathroom because of the dominating men.

The awful living conditions are only part of the major problem. The trauma that these

immigrants face when they are fleeing their homelands is unsettling. They see things that we can

only dream about in our worst nightmares. To make it worse, their mental health is in shambles,

and when they get to camps they will be lucky to find a psychiatrist who can help them

understand what they have been through. This trauma is added to the awaiting horror that they

face within the camps. This whole situation is very disheartening when you look at the reason

why these immigrants are running in the first place. They are trying to flee war-torn nations,

most coming from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. It seems that they can never breathe and relax,

their anxiety is always at 100. Just when they think they have made to somewhere calm, they

have to worry about disgusting living conditions, safety for their bodies and how they are going

to survive.

One of the British officials who represents the European Commission suggested that to

solve the immigration problem, Greece should do nothing to improve the living conditions in

Moria in order to “deter future migration to Greece.” This idea is incredibly backwards and

ignorant. The reasons behind her statement can be understood but it’s hard to get to that point of

wanting to understand when she says something like that. Her reasoning was most likely along

the lines of if the conditions are so bad then why would anyone want to travel there? One of the

many places she is wrong would first be in her thinking. Yes, her argument makes sense when it

is explained, but she is clearly not thinking about the immigrants who are already living there.

They have to live in these awful conditions, and when considering what they went through to get
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there that is insulating. For her to say something like that, especially being in the position that sh

is in makes the situation so much worse. When she speaks, it is on behalf of the British

government, whether she thinks that or not, that is how the world sees her words. Her feelings

towards the Greece immigration crisis come off as the British views on the immigration crisis,

which is unexplainably bad for the British reputation. This makes them seem as if they are

intolerant to change and unaccepting of those who are in need of help. Luckily, a representative

from the commission publicly said that her words were not an accurate representation of how

Britain feels.

The reason why Greece is such a popular spot for these immigrants is because it is right

next to Turkey. The islands of Samos, Lesbos and Moria are closest to Turkey, so that makes

them more accessible to immigrants. Turkey has become overcrowded, so when their camps are

at maximum capacity, they ship immigrants off to Greece, as if they are objects. This action has

a vile undertone considering the relationship that Greece and Turkey have. Turkey was able to

get a deal with the European Union. The deal stated that Turkey would take back immigrants

who enter Greece and send the legal refugees to the EU. In exchange, the EU agreed to give

Turkey 6 billion euros, and allow visa-free travel throughout Europe for Turkish citizens. This

deal barely helped Greece, because Turkey was not moving the refugees fast enough. By the

time they removed a decent amount of refugees from Greece, more would enter. The immigrants

were coming in too fast in order for a difference to be seen in the numbers. To make this worse,

virtually no country will help Greece financially. The EU payed Greece 1.6 billion euros to keep

the refugees on their islands and out of the rest of Europe.

This money made little to no impact on the conditions of the camps. Since there are so

many camps in awful conditions, it was hard to allocate equal amounts of money to each. There
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were also no stipulations on the money. The EU never said that Greece had to use the money to

aid the refugee crisis, it could be used for whatever they wanted. Most people suspect that the

money was used to aid the failing economy. Another issue with this crisis would be the rise in

nationalism. Many of the Greek citizens are unhappy about the influx of refugees. The ones who

do get authorized for asylum are now moving further into Greece, since they are not allowed to

leave. The main rule to immigration in Europe is that whatever country the immigrants land in, is

the one they have to stay in, even if they get authorized for asylum. There have been protests and

riots in the streets of Athens and other towns in Greece due to the rise of nationalism. This same

issue can be seen in the United States. Many Americans do not like the idea of immigrants

entering their country and even more having to interact with them on a daily basis. Racism is at

an all-time high throughout the world, but Greece is particularly bad.

My suggestion to you, Mr. President would be to spread more awareness to congress

about this multi-dimensional issue. Since congress is in charge of allocating money, I think they

should be the main party involved in aiding Greece financially. I also feel that since you have so

much support from many Americans, you should be spreading awareness about this major

problem. The amount of power and influence that you possess should be used in this moment

now more than ever. I hope you make the right decision in helping the Greek government deal

with this crisis. I appreciate you taking the time to read this letter and hope to hear from you

soon.
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Work Cited

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