About 100 migrants from Eritrea and Ethiopia staying in the Moria, Lesvos reception and identification center camp, celebrated New Year 2010 in the early hours of Monday.
With traditional music from their homeland, dances and food they prepared themselves, they welcomed the new year, according to their calendar. For Ethiopians and Eritreans, September 11 in the Western calendar, is the first day of the new year, which in their case is 2010.
The majority of Eritreans and Ethiopians are Christian Copts. Their “New Year’s party” was organized with the support of the “Coexistence and Communication at the Aegean” organization.
“It’s the first time I celebrated New Year’s Eve away from home. I didn’t have a choice.
My parents were killed, my sister escaped to Sudan to survive, I had to leave in order to stay alive,” a 25-year-old asylum seeker from Ethiopia told the Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA).
His wish for the New Year is to not hear the word “Wait” from the asylum service officials, he added.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
