By Madeline Carpenter, Operations Coordinator at a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., and independent researcher specialising in forced migration, border governance, and migration policy. .
Introduction
In 2015, Europe was in the midst of a crisis. With global conflicts raging and a significant number of people displaced from their native countries, many were fleeing their homes in search of refuge. While some countries chose to open their borders in response to increased migration, others tightened them to restrict border crossings. Some European citizens, influenced in part by intensified media coverage, perceived the influx of migrants into the European Union as an invasion. In contrast, others interpreted it as a moral imperative to offer protection and refuge. At the center of this debate was Greece. Due to its geographic location at the southeastern edge of Europe, Greece was widely seen by migrants traveling the Balkan Route as a gateway into the European Union. Many of the widely circulated images that showed overcrowded boats carrying migrants across the Mediterranean depicted journeys from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, the closest entry point into Europe. This included the infamous image of a 3-year-old Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, whose body washed up on a Turkish beach after he drowned while trying to cross into Greece with his family in the summer of 2015. These images reinforced the sense of emergency often associated with the term “crisis,” which was frequently used by the media to describe this rise in displacement.
In 1951, the United Nations adopted the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which explicitly established the principle of non-refoulement. This prohibits countries that receive refugees from returning them to a place where they might face persecution or serious harm. Many migrants relied on this principle in 2015 after a harrowing journey through the Western Balkans from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan. Migrants would typically arrive in Greece with no money left, due to exploitation from smuggling networks, and have nowhere to live. Most aimed to eventually make it to countries known within migrant communities as welcoming. Despite this, migrants who reached Greece were still often considered lucky, due to the perils of the journey. Greece became notorious for intercepting migrants at its borders and transferring them to overcrowded and poorly managed refugee camps on islands like Lesbos, where the notorious Moria camp was located. Many migrants were attempting to circumvent these camps by trying to get to Athens or escaping the camps for Athens if they could find a way to do so.
Camps and Resistance: State Neglect and a Mobilized Response
Islands such as Lesbos, Chios, and Leros were home to state-sponsored refugee shelters that were typically designed to house small numbers of people for short periods of time. However, due to the overwhelming number of people coming to the islands and the backlog of asylum claims, the camps were often vastly overcrowded and prone to extended stays. The Moria camp on the island of Lesbos became a national symbol of how poorly the Greek government was handling the reception of migrants. Before the camp was burned down by residents in protest in 2020, accounts of severe neglect and unlivable conditions poured out of the camp. Originally built to house around 3,100 people, by the summer of 2020, it held almost 20,000. Research showed that many migrants remained in Moria for much longer than originally intended, sometimes for years, as they waited for updates on their asylum cases. The study also found that the longer they stayed, the more likely they were to experience a mental health crisis.
In March 2016, after the EU-Turkey deal prompted many European countries to close their borders, large numbers of migrants were left stranded in Greece with resources stretched thin or entirely depleted. Prior to the deal, when other European countries began to indicate that they would move to reduce the flow of migrants crossing their borders, Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned that he would not allow Greece to become a “warehouse of souls.”
As Greece’s state-run refugee camps grew increasingly overcrowded and neighboring borders began to close, many residents of Athens mobilized to meet the urgent needs of migrants who were left without access to housing or resources. Influenced by strong leftist, anarchist, and anti-authoritarian political traditions, activists and residents in the Athenian neighborhood of Exarchia organized self-managed spaces of solidarity that provided shelter, food, and general assistance. These efforts were not solely about mutual aid; they also represented a direct challenge to the Greek government’s approach to migration management and the broader policies of the European Union.
Exarchia’s identity as a hub of resistance was forged through a history of defiance against state power, most notably during the 1973 Athens Polytechnic Uprising, when students occupied the National Technical University of Athens in protest against the military junta. The brutal suppression of this movement, culminating in a tank crashing through the university gates and the deaths of at least 24 civilians, cemented Exarchia’s status as a place for anti-authoritarian struggle. In 2008, when police shot and killed 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in Exarchia, sparking weeks of riots across Greece, the neighborhood was reaffirmed as the center of anarchist and anti-state mobilization in Athens. These events fostered a culture of direct action and leftist organizing that would later shape the neighborhood’s response to the refugee crisis. The neighborhood was uniquely prepared to reject the marginalization of migrants and instead integrate them into community-led initiatives that defied the Greek government’s dehumanizing camp system.
Inside City Plaza: Autonomy and Collective Life
Approximately one mile from central Exarchia sat the City Plaza Hotel. The City Plaza Hotel, originally owned and inherited by former Greek actress Aliki Papahela, had stood vacant since 2010. It was forced to close when Papahela could no longer afford its upkeep during the financial crisis that gripped Greece in the early 2000s, and then sat empty. In April of 2016, a group of anarchist organizers and volunteers that called themselves the Economic and Political Refugee Solidarity Initiative broke into the abandoned space to create housing that would help bridge the gap left by state-sponsored migrant camps.
In this space, refugees were afforded private rooms, daily meals, and access to essential services such as healthcare, legal assistance, childcare, and language classes, all provided by a volunteer-based network of activists and residents. The building was managed collectively through weekly assemblies where both organizers and residents had an equal voice in decision-making. City Plaza emphasized horizontal governance, mutual responsibility, and solidarity rather than the approach of state-led camps or NGOs. Every adult resident was expected to contribute to the upkeep of the space by taking on tasks such as cleaning or preparing food in the kitchen, which served over 1,000 meals each day. Children attended informal schools organized within the building, while adults could participate in workshops and community activities. In most cases, these organizing groups formed organically, with individuals contributing in ways that aligned with their skill set.
For many residents, this participatory structure and emphasis on dignity marked a radical shift from the dehumanization they had experienced in the Greek islands. City Plaza offered a working example of how migrant housing could function outside the dominant frameworks of humanitarian crisis management. It demonstrated that solidarity-based alternatives were not only possible but also often more humane and sustainable. A City Plaza organizer said, “City Plaza is not just a housing project. It is our answer against the EU policies of exclusion, discrimination, and bordering.”
Conclusion: Lasting Lessons in Solidarity
This particular refugee crisis in Europe saw many different forms of makeshift shelters all across Europe. While temporary shelters for migrants, such as abandoned airports or open-air camps, were often marked by unsafe conditions that led to injury, death, or prolonged displacement, City Plaza was frequently hailed as a model of best practice in refugee accommodation.
City Plaza closed its doors in 2019. This was due to an amalgamation of reasons, including wavering support and enthusiasm for the squat, as well as decreased numbers of migrants crossing into Greece. In the same year, Greece adopted a new law that dramatically overhauled the country’s asylum system and placed vast limitations on who was qualified to seek asylum in the country. This resulted in a 78.9% decrease in arrivals. While the Greek government ultimately responded to the refugee crisis by tightening border controls, Greece offers a unique case study in how contrasting political agendas and ideologies between grassroots and state actors shape responses to international crises. The approach of the Greek government was often a reactionary response to the public outrage amplified by the media’s portrayal of migration, while solidarity groups leaned on longstanding traditions to bridge the gaps left by the state. Examining this context provides insights into the future of migration policy not only within Greece but also on a global scale. Nasim Lomani, one of the anarchist organizers of City Plaza, said in an interview,
“This is a project that we believe is more of a question. At the moment, it’s not an answer: it’s a proposal. We’re trying to instigate discussions. One: How can we apply pressure for better and fairer policies? Two: How can we live together – and live better – with refugees? Three (which is very important to us): how can the movement intervene practically? We believe that you cannot be in this field without intervening practically. If you’re at the borders, organise people to protest, break fences, fight with the police.”
This article was originally published at https://www.humanrightsresearch.org/post/warehouse-of-souls-and-city-plaza-the-athenian-fight-for-dignified-refuge.
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