This picture shows Samos tavern, a Greek restaurant owned by Maria "Mama" Makrogiannis, who became famous for giving shelter and food to migrant children and families. Maria has been forced to close her tavern after receiving threats from locals.
The small tavern, which is located on the Greek island of Samos, was opened two years ago. The owner, Maria, had preached the philosophy that there would always be "a plate of food and a spirit of understanding and solidarity" on offer for migrants at her tavern. However, since the beginning of the year her experience has turned sour and she has been forced to close the business after several break-ins, vandalism and threatening phone calls from members of the local community. The refugees and migrants which went to Maria's tavern often referred to her as "Mama", and the story of her tavern and kindness was well-documented around the world." For the last two years I had more or less turned the tavern into my house. I really developed a bond with the migrants, especially the children; I feel that they really are my own children," Maria told Greek newspaper Ethnos."But since the start of 2017 I have been facing difficulties; the most serious problems began in January when break-ins began.Since then it has been one attack after the other," she added."I also received threatening phone calls from strangers, swearing at me and telling me that I might get hurt for welcoming and feeding the migrants - I even had to change my phone number. Finally, those making threats got their way and I was forced to keep my tavern closed." Last June the Municipality of Samos won an award for the community's valuable contribution to the management of refugees. Additionally, despite the racist and xenophobic threats from some locals, Maria and her husband Michalis Georgalis have been recognized abroad for their personal contribution and are expected to be honored with a personal award. There are around 1,740 refugees and migrants on Samos, with a recent spike in arrivals due to the good weather. In total, 30,565 migrants landed on the Greek islands from Turkey between March 20 last year and April 4 of this year, according to European Commission figures. During the same period, only 944 migrants were returned to Turkey in line with the Ankara-EU deal as Greece struggles to deal with the huge backlog in processing asylum applications.
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