Welcome Office Lesbos is an organisation that does something that almost no other organization does, certainly not on Lesbos. They provide bureacratic support that migrants desperatly need with something that is often overlooked when we speak about migrant struggle: Getting a tax or social security number. It is an ardious process that is often impossible for non-Greek speakers to get a grip on. Welcome Office is also the only organization that is doing this work on the island right now. In addition, they are housing a small amount of families and thereby enable them to live outside of the Marovouni camp structure.
VC Mytilini is one of the projects sharing an office inside the building of Welcome Office. Therefore we had a front row seat to the dramatic increase of people in need of the service of the Welcome Office. It has been super busy, putting a strain on all the employees. We interviewed all of the employees during before,during or right after work hours inside the spaces where they usually work, in order to get a real impression of the space and the feeling of the Welcome Office. It is through these interviews that we try to find out what exactly what the work is that is being done on a daily basis, how the situation on the Island impacts this important but often overlooked work and why it has been so busy lately.
More information on Welcome Office Lesbos :
https://www.facebook.com/welcometolesvos/
