Above photo: A Syrian family on the Greek island of Lesbos, from the UNHCR.
Samos, Greece – Sallie Latch is an 83-year-old artist born in Cleveland and who grew up in Northern California. She left her current home in Mexico to go to the island of Samos in Greece, to voluntarily work with refugees fleeing bombings and warfare in Syria and Iraq. She arrived there just as the European Union decided to turn away newly arriving refugees and send them back to Turkey, which parallels the United States and other countries turning away boatloads of Jews fleeing the Nazis during World War 2. The Center for Global Justice in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, contributed to Sallie’s efforts and helped make her trip possible.
Listen below to Sallie Latch’s first interview with a refugee from Syria, a mother of three, recorded a few days ago.
The audio was edited for WBAI by Mitchel Cohen.