Deutsche Version

MOIRA – a grassroots action

Directed at all those who believe that Europe is a Europe of mutual goodwill and will continue that way for the future. And those willing to work at  upholding this conviction.

MOIRA AND MORIA – a  question of Life and Death

Europe shall not just watch – let alone, look away! Moira is the Greek translation for “fate”. The goddesses of fate, who determine life and death, are called Moira in the Greek mythology. The word Moria is confusingly similar.
Moria is the name of the refugee camp, hopelessly overcrowded, on the Greek island of  Lesbos. Moira and Moria – a question of life and death, of the fate of thousands. And Europe watches. Or more to the point: Europe looks away.
We, the association OK! Offene Kommune Bad Essen e.V. (open communities) are following the situation of the refugees on the Greek island with growing concern and despair. For weeks, we have been hoping for a sign, a humane gesture from the EU, which would end this pitiful situation.

The home minister of Lower Saxony, Boris Pistorius, had made some headway: he wanted to try and save underage orphans from the hardship of the coming winter. Germany and the European Union could have shown they have a heart. All in vain.

We are all Europeans. And we are all guilty if we continue to look away. If we allow thousands of children and women to face diseases, rape, hunger, misery and death.
We lose credit if we ignore Article 1 of our constitution and disregard the dignity of mankind. For this dignity of mankind is inviolable. ´The German people believe in the inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every community, of peace and of justice in the world.´

We want to act now. To make a beginning. In Germany

For this terrible situation is, among other reasons, a result of the Turkish deal which we have to answer for and accept responsibility. That is why we are committed to making a contribution, even if only a minimal one. A small human gesture to help at a time of great need, which we hope can have a great impact if it falls on fruitful ground.
The grass roots action MOIRA is being launched by the association OK! Bad Essen e.V, which has been successfully helping in the integration of refugees since 2015 in a small community in the rural district of Osnabrück.

The concept is as follows:

Every community in Germany (there are c. 11,000 communities) declares itself at once willing to accept one or two refugee families i.e. mother/father with children from the Moria camps.

The help should in the first place be offered to children and women, as life for them in the overfilled camps is unacceptable, even life threatening. They should be refugees who have sought asylum in Greece but whose length of residence has not been confirmed. In almost all our communities` structures are in place to make this unproblematical. Every rural district (c.300) and every town (c.2000) declares its willingness to participate.  We must give it a try!

Perhaps, hopefully, the whole of Europe will follow suit. How wonderful that would be!

MOIRA – The fate of the refugees concerns every one of us.

Pass the message on, `Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere!´ Forward this email to your mayor, local councillor, interior minister, to local councils, state councils, MPs and MEPs. To the clergy, to refugee associations and organisations –  to all who are willing and in a position to further this humanitarian gesture, to fulfil and implement it – in Germany and Europe!

Signed
Your association OK! Bad Essen e.V. – the committee: Daniel Reitel, Viktoria von dem Bussche, Klaus Haasis, Andrea Wirsching- Schultz, Peter Knoedgen, Andreas Rohdenburg