When an NGO volunteer at the Mavrovouni refugee camp on Lesvos, Greece, realized the food handouts had gone bad in the scorching summer heat, she knew there was no choice but to bring it up with the soldiers overseeing the distribution. The volunteer, who we will call Sarah, brought a rancid serving of bean and tomato soup to one of the soldiers and asked him to smell it. He refused and they started arguing. Word, and discontent, quickly spread among camp residents – some began to protest. It was May 2021; spurred by weeks of dissatisfaction with camp food, the situation quickly descended into chaos.
‘When the police arrived, they told me I would be going to the police station,’ said Sarah who did not want her real name published for fear of legal or professional consequences. ‘I asked them why and the officer said: “Because I’m police”.’ After being taken to the station in Mytilene, she was detained for nearly five hours and her phone was confiscated. During questioning, an officer accused Sarah of inciting a riot: ‘He told me if I ever did something like this again, I would be brought to the prosecutor in Athens.’
