Learning from Lesbos

Each figure 

on the chart

represents 

2,000 people.

Monthly Refugee Arrivals on Lesbos

October 

November 

January 2016

December 

September 2015

February 

Resident population of Mytilene

municipal community

March 

Resident population of Molyvos 

(Mithymnia) municipal community

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Learning from Lesbos 

8

WORKING  

WITHIN A  

COMPLEX CONTEXT 

As no two cities are alike, no two cities in crisis are alike. 

Effective urban humanitarian response requires a full 

understanding of the scale and complexities of the local 

context, its interconnected systems and stakeholders, 

and the way in which diverse urban communities live 

within it and alongside one another. To be most effective, 

humanitarian actors working in an urban context should 

take into account local power dynamics, social networks, 

existing structures, systems and geography in order 

to identify suitable entry points and opportunities to 

leverage the distinct characteristics of the city or town.

SUPPORTING RECOVERY 

AND RESILIENCE 

Building long-term recovery and resilience must 

be considered from the outset of a crisis, as the 

transition from emergency response to recovery can 

be rapid and normally involves a period in which the 

two phases overlap. Cities operate on longstanding 

and interconnected networks of service provision 

channels (such as education, health, and legal services), 

markets, governance structures and social systems. 

Humanitarians should strive to work within these 

systems, to avoid their duplication or disruption, and 

to work in ways that leaves them stronger and better 

able to ensure long-term recovery and resilience. 

URBAN PARTNERSHIPS, 

COLLABORATION 

AND INCLUSION 

Cities are shaped by a multitude of international,  

national and local actors from multiple sectors,  

including government, civil society organisations 

(CSOs), the academic community, the private sector and 

development practitioners. These diverse actors, who 

possess valuable knowledge of and influence over how 

the city functions, form networks that humanitarians can 

leverage to inform effective and inclusive responses.  

Their understanding of how the city operates and  

provides services, as well as how legal and social 

frameworks affect the lives of urban residents and 

communities is a critical, but often overlooked, resource. 

Humanitarians should support local authorities and 

service providers to coordinate responses while leveraging 

the emergence of national and locally led response 

networks to ensure that activities and advocacy are well 

coordinated. Such an approach will help build local and 

sustainable capacity for preparedness and response 

while striving for the inclusion and empowerment of 

marginalised groups, such as women and minority groups.

The IRC’s Principles of Urban Humanitarian Response 

The IRC has been working in cities and towns impacted by humanitarian crises for decades and our experience  

shows that urban settings require new approaches to delivering assistance. We are currently exploring innovative  

ways to support the displaced and host communities in urban contexts to survive, recover and rebuild their lives.  

We are dedicated to not only meeting the immediate needs of affected populations, but to also fostering 

recovery, resilience, and self-reliance in the aftermath of a crisis, so that affected populations are safer and 

healthier, with less disruption to their education, economic wellbeing, and ability to influence decisions that affect 

them, and the city is able to better cope with future shocks and stresses. We are committed to improving our 

response to urban crises and sharing our experience and evidence with the wider humanitarian community.

While there is no effective one-size-fits-all approach, the following principles can guide an effective response  

to humanitarian crises in urban contexts.

right: Mytilene is home to over a third of the population of Lesbos 

It is the administrative centre for the single municipality which covers 

the whole island, as well as a regional capital. 

Samer Saliba/IRC

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Learning from Lesbos 

9

Overview 

This report is an output of the International Rescue 

Committee’s advocacy and learning partnership with 

the UK’s Department for International Development 

(DFID) on urban humanitarian crises. 

Using a combination of desk-based research and primary 

qualitative data, this report aims to shed light on the 

following questions in relation to the IRC’s activities 

on Lesbos from September 2015 to March 2016:

 

k

Were the IRC’s programming models 

designed to take into account the urban 

environment and its stakeholders? 

 

k

In what capacity is the IRC supporting the 

municipal government in Lesbos in its operations 

to respond to an influx of refugees and other 

migrants, and how effective is this collaboration?

 

k

Are the IRC’s programmes addressing social 

tensions between refugees and migrant 

populations and their host communities? 

 

k

What key lessons does the Lesbos case study 

provide for humanitarian practitioners in relation to 

improving emergency response in urban settings?

Seeking to analyse urban emergency response from both 

humanitarian and local government perspectives, the 

process began with a desk review, followed by a series 

of observational visits and semi-structured key informant 

interviews with humanitarian aid workers and local 

community-based actors in two locations where the IRC has 

programmes – the city of Mytilene and the town of Molyvos 

on the Greek island of Lesbos (the whole of which comes 

under one municipal authority). The interviews focused on 

collaboration between humanitarians, the government sector 

and civil society as well as the challenges and opportunities 

associated with the emergency response to the arrival of 

unprecedented numbers of refugees and other migrants 

on Lesbos. The IRC’s Urban Response Learning Manager 

conducted all research for this report and relied on internal 

research conducted previously by IRC colleagues. 

The Lesbos Case Study 

The ongoing refugee crisis on Lesbos highlights the need 

for a more contextually appropriate approach to responding 

to humanitarian crises in urban areas. Lesbos, the main 

landing point for refugees and migrants from Syria, Iraq, 

Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco and Somalia (among other 

places of origin), has a population of just over 86,000. In the 

nine months between July 2015 and March 2016, Lesbos 

received a total of 559,659 arrivals, an average of over  

2,000 arrivals per day. The height of the crisis was October 

2016, when the island received over 135,000 arrivals.

4  

The sheer volume of people arriving on this small European 

island, the economy of which is based largely on tourism, 

posed a significant challenge to the humanitarian emergency 

response: how do we meet the needs of refugees and 

migrants while respecting the urban dynamics of the island? 

This is the question that up to 81 international and local 

NGOs (of which only 30 were locally registered) and 

countless volunteers should have been asking themselves.

5

 

Introduction 

Pakistan

4%

Others

2.8%

Morocco

0.2%

Iran

3%

Iraq

19%

Afghanistan

27%

Syria

44%

Country of Origin of Arrivals on Lesbos,  

February 2016

source:   Figures from Hellenic Police  

and Hellenic Coastguard, quoted in UNHCR, 

“Lesvos data snapshot,” 30 March, 2016

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