October 4 – 7, 2015 —
We are currently at the island of Simi, Greece, so close to the Turkey border that we can see Turkey. It is our last Greek island for this season before heading to Turkey. Simi has one of the most beautiful harbors in the islands surrounded by pastel buildings clustered up the hillside from the waterfront. 
The waterfront is filled with sailboats, fishing boats and large ferries coming and going daily. Outside of Simi town the island is pretty much tall barren hills of rock, with the exception of a monastery at the far end of the island that is so popular with tourists that it has its own ferry dock.
Restaurants, cafes, linen shops, leather shops and sponge shops are almost on top of one another filling the waterfront area. Simi has a long tradition of sponge diving and was once considered to be the best in the Aegean. While fewer divers risk the dangers of the sport today, there are multiple sponge shops selling both Simi sponges as well as ones imported from the Caribbean, considered to be of lesser quality.
Simi is a narrow harbor with boats med moored to the quay on both sides. The innermost part of the harbor is more shallow and filled with small fishing boats. After many years of boats using the harbor the bottom has collected old anchors, chains and other debris. In addition to the daily challenges of getting caught on your neighbor’s anchor chain there is the additional chance of tangling with some of the debris on the bottom. Fortunately we had no problem, but we watched the boat beside us try to leave and find themselves firmly attached to a pile of metal on the bottom that they could not release from their anchor. 
After backing into another slip they were able to get a diver, who came within minutes, to dive on the anchor and get it released. We were told this happens here several times each week. We were amused with the casualness of the diver as he arrived and left on his scooter, fully dressed in his diving gear, complete with the tanks on his back! Not long after that we saw a man riding his scooter with a 12 foot ladder over his shoulder.
Simi is experiencing the same challenge as other Greek islands that border Turkey. It has had a flow of Syrian refugees escaping to the EU via the island. This summer it has been a much heavier flow, so the Greek government has put in military Special Forces units to help manage the refugees.
Yesterday and today we have experienced the refugee situation first hand, talking to the police, the Coast Guard, and some of the refugees themselves.
The Police said they are overwhelmed with the number of refugees coming into Simi. There seems to be a new group every day. The entire police department consists of only 10 police officers covering 24/7. Refugees are held at the police department on an outside 2nd floor porch. 
The tiny station has no other place to put them. Syrian refugees are being fast tracked into the EU. Once people are processed they are legally into Greece but it is illegal for them to leave Greece. Reality is that Greece cannot afford to have them considering the volume and the country’s own financial issues. The police officer we talked to said the refugees have money, more money than Greeks have. They are the middle class, doctors and other professionals. Poor people are not getting out of Syria because they don’t have the funds to do it. The police officer asked us whether the United States is taking any of the refugees. When we said yes, and told her the 200,000 number President Obama committed to over the next three years for all refugees worldwide including an increased number of Syrians, she clearly approved.
The Refugees we spoke to said that they arrived by boat, via a trafficker from Turkey, who left them on the other side of the mountain (500-1,000 foot high rock) where he would not be caught. They then climbed over the mountain to Simi town where they allowed themselves to be arrested and are being held for processing. Some of them were wearing flop flops. We know, first hand, how steep the rocky hills are with no roads or paths – pretty unforgiving.
When we asked where they are going from here, they said either Rhodes or Athens, by ferry. Certainly they have further plans but could not share them as they will only be legal within Greece for now. We asked them what they needed and were told that someone had brought them bottles of water and some breakfast food from a restaurant. It was past noon so we went to the local bakery about bought out all their Greek sandwiches and took them back to the refugees. It was sobering. Their appreciation was effusive. One woman hugged and kissed me and kept saying thank you. My sense was that it was less for the food than for the understanding and support of their journey. They are very brave. They are traveling with young children and some elderly. Some speak amazing English; others speak none.
Late this afternoon Bob saw the refugees we had spoken with boarding a ferry to Rhodes. Rhodes is a large Greek island. From there they can get a direct ferry (18 hours) to Athens. They will likely then go underground again to push further into the EU.
We later spoke to the Coast Guard when we were presenting our paperwork to clear out for our departure to Turkey. When we arrived at the Coast Guard office, we saw the family we observed getting off a Coast Guard boat earlier, just arriving after they had been picked up. It appeared to be a multi-generation
al family including two small boys, perhaps ages two and four, who were both asleep on their mother’s lap and the grandparents. There were two other men with them. In talking with the Coast Guard officer helping us, he said the family had been brought across from Turkey this morning by a trafficker and left on land at Simi, where the Coast Guard had picked them up. 
The Coast Guard had also stopped the trafficker as he headed back to Turkey and arrested him as well. Turning around we saw him sitting in a straight chair in the hall, handcuffed and chained. He looked terrified and was shaking. He told them it was his first time. They told him it was his last. Outside we saw his small (14 ft.) runabout with a 115 hp Johnson tied to the Coast Guard boat.
As we were wrapping up our discussion, the Coast Guard officer asked us if the US will be taking refugees. We said yes. He then pointed out that if Trump is elected, as President, he claims he will send them all back. He was angry at US for that prospect. We assured him Trump is completely wacky and is just going for the attention and will never be elected So.. the world is watching our politics and the attitudes that are presented. Trump’s comment reflects very negatively on the United States. We believe all countries need to share the burden of this migration from Syria. These people are not arriving penniless. They are looking for peace and safety for their families.
Leaving the Coast Guard office we stopped to talk to the newest refugees. They looked exhausted. We asked them what they needed. The grandfather did not speak English. He just said “from Syria”. We wished them well and left.
After dinner we returned to the police station to see if the refugees needed dinner, blankets or anything else. We found the two small boys we had seen in the afternoon with their father. He spoke some English and told us they would be leaving by ferry the following day to somewhere else in Greece. They had not had dinner and as I was organizing it with him, a volunteer from Simi arrived to say they had a room for the family for the night and she had arranged for them to be taken care of.
Of note, everyone we have spoken with from the police to the Coast Guard, to the local islanders and other cruisers, believe the refugees should be accepted into the EU. No one has seen any crime from the refugees. The Syrians just want safety in their new world. The police and Coast Guard in Simi have been outstanding at processing the refugees here very quickly and helping them to move on. It is easier to do here as there seems to be a daily trickle of refugees, unlike some other islands which have been overwhelmed with the volume arriving during the summer months.
Clearly we would have loved a few more hours with each of the groups we spoke with to ask the dozens of questions we have. We will no doubt have that opportunity again.
Tomorrow we leave Greece and the EU behind (for now) and cross over into Turkey. Turkce Merhaba!