A firsthand account of a Greek refugee camp--and the stories of the refugees staying in them
Hara Hotel chronicles everyday life in a makeshift refugee camp on the forecourt of a petrol
station in northern Greece. In the first two months of 2016 more than 100 000 refugees arrived
in Greece. Half of them were fleeing war-torn Syria seeking a safe haven in Europe. As the
numbers seeking refuge soared many were stranded in temporary camps staffed by volunteers.
Hara Hotel tells some of their stories. Theresa Thornhill arrived in Greece in April 2016 as a
volunteer. She met one refugee a young Syrian Kurd called Juwan who left his home and family
in November 2011 to avoid being summoned for military service by the Assad regime. Interweaving
memoir with Juwan's story and with the recent history of the failed revolution in Syria and
the horror of the ensuing civil war Hara Hotel paints a vivid picture of the lives of the
people trapped between civil war and Europe's borders.
