Eric Kempson calls leading aid agencies "disgusting" for abandoning desperate refugees on the Greek island of Lesvos
An aid worker tirelessly saving lives of refugees on a Greek island has called some of the world's biggest aid agencies “con artists” for abandoning the very people they are meant to support.
Eric Kempson, an English wood carver who lives on Lesvos, says he is dealing with up to 2,000 refugees a day because leading aid agencies have turned a “blind eye” to the plight of desperate Syrian refugees sailing to the island from Turkey.
Along with his wife, daughter and dozens of volunteers, Kempson says he is desperately working against the clock to save lives while major aid agencies remain idle despite having a presence on the island.
After speaking at an event in Glasgow, he told TFN: “There’s something very wrong here. We have NGOs coming to the island all the time. They come, take pictures of women and children, promise us the earth and we never see them again.
“They’re just taking money; they’re con artists. It’s disgusting.”
Kempson, who arrived from Greece especially to attend Positive Action in Housing's (PAiH) 20th AGM, broke into tears several times as he reflected on the daily death toll on Lesvos, much of which he claims is a deliberate attempt to stop refugees from reaching Greece.
"You don’t hear much about the daily abuses, about the Turkish coastguards deliberately sinking boats," he said. "Turkey is being paid to stop people coming to Greece so they terrorise these desperate people.
“They throw them lines that are electrified, water canon their already sinking boats and create waves to sink them.
"It beggars belief that this is happening everyday."
Kempson first went to the island on holiday with his wife Philippa 16 years ago.
As more refugees arrived he was forced to act because “no-one else was helping”.
Lesvos, now the frontline of the world’s biggest wave of mass-migration since the second world war, simply can’t cope, said Kempson.
NGOs come, take pictures of women and children, promise us the earth and we never see them again
Robina Qureshi, director of PAiH, said: "Eric Kempson is regarded as the Oskar Schindler of today’s Europe. We have the biggest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War and our governments are doing nothing.
"The Kempsons are a beacon for the growing underground railroad of individuals and communities willing to defy their governments in order to provide right and proper humanitarian assistance.
“The EU has failed to live up to its humanitarian obligations. The UK government was more than eager to let refugees languish for a fifth winter in crumbling refugee aid camps that are running out of food and medicine.
"The host countries that are taking the majority of Syrian refugees are running out of patience.
"The UK’s willingness to bomb other people’s countries for economic gain and help pay off other countries like Turkey to deny safe passage to Syrian and other refugees will never be forgotten.”
The UNHCR and International Red Cross, both of which have operations on Lesvos, refused to comment on Kempson claims.
However Peter Bouckaert, director of emergencies for Human Rights Watch, said that all the way along the route into Europe through the Balkans “there is virtually no humanitarian response from European institutions, and those in need rely on the good will of volunteers for shelter, food, clothes, and medical assistance.”
