Supported projects
#LeaveNoOneBehind offers a platform for local and solidarity projects – fast support guaranteed. Thanks to your donations, we have been able to support over 100 partner organizations in their important work since 2020. The projects are often actively run by refugees themselves or the organizations actively support those seeking protection in solidarity.
On this page you can find all the initiatives and organizations that have been supported so far.
All projects
BASE UA
BASE UA was founded by activists and journalists in the wake of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and focuses primarily on evacuation from the most heavily embattled areas of the country. BASE UA is one of the last organizations to bring people threatened by the Russian invasion to safety from Bachmut, Lysychansk or Severodonetsk. But BASE's work does not stop at evacuation: People should receive sustainable support. Among other things, two camps were organized with children and young people who had to flee the war. There they received art and trauma work.
Aegean Boat Report
Illegal pushbacks are a daily occurrence at European borders. In order to take action against them, they need to be well documented and collated. The Aegean Boat Report reports 24/7 about incidents at the borders and thus enables quick help and monitoring of "border officials''. One practice the Aegean Boat Report has been able to highlight many times: Refugees who had already reached the bottom of Lesbos are picked up by masked men, often abused, kidnapped and abandoned in the open sea on maneuverless "life rafts." There they drift until the Turkish coast guard picks them up and brings them back to Turkey. Documenting them and gathering the information is critical. Because good information not only ensures that helpers can be on the scene faster in emergencies, good information is also the best weapon against cover-up attempts by governments and their coast guards. The Aegean Boat Report has thus become an essential building block in the work of NGOs in the Aegean. Through its work, emergencies are noticed more quickly and people are rescued.
Blindspots
Blindspots helps wherever people are forgotten by the media, politics and the public. They bring the "invisible spots" of Europe into the focus of social discourse and strengthen existing aid structures. On the Bosnian-Croatian border, in the Velika Kladuša region, refugees are stuck in patched-up improvised shelters, where they are exposed and unprotected from the wind and weather. This means life-threatening cold in winter, with temperatures as low as -20 degrees. In addition, they are often robbed, beaten up and illegally pushed back by border officials. Blindspots therefore organizes stoves and firewood for the people. They build doors, windows and solar panels on the provisional huts and provide access to drinking water and hygiene facilities. They also document the inhumane and illegal violence at the borders to raise public awareness. Their work is more important now than ever in winter and can save many people from dying of cold.
Wir Packen’s an
Wherever refugees suffer under the European border regime and have to sleep on park benches, under tarpaulins or in the woods, you can find the pink boxes full of relief supplies from "Wir Packen's an". Many people have almost forgotten the pictures from the Polish-Belarusian border last year. Refugees stuck in the forest between two border strips and in the face of thousands of officers of the Polish border police. At the time, “Wir Packen's an” was one of the few organizations that managed to deliver relief supplies to the people on the ground. People are still stuck at the border, and “Wir Packen's an” is still delivering relief goods: Hand warmers, sleeping bags, thermal pants and much more. Not only on the Belarusian border, but also, for example, on the Ukrainian border with Moldova. In a feat of strength, reception stations including six sanitary containers with showers and toilets were provided in this forgotten region within a very short time.
Liebe im Karton
"Liebe im Karton" e.V. or Lovebox is a volunteer Christmas package delivery campaign that has been distributing gifts to vulnerable children in Germany, Europe and the so-called Middle East since 2016. In addition, they organize year-round deliveries of relief supplies to crisis regions, including Ukraine, to support local people and rebuild destroyed structures. Together with their active network partner "Netzwerk Ziviler Krisenstab", they have been managing the coordination and logistics of more than 6,500 pallets of urgently needed relief supplies to Ukraine since February 2022.
Human Rights Legal Project
The Human Rights Legal Project (HRLP) is a legal aid organisation that combats human rights violations against refugees in Greece through legal representation, advocacy and public relations work and takes action against the criminalisation of refugees at the EU's external border.
Earth Medicine Physical Rehabilitation
Fleeing is traumatic, both psychologically and physically. To support refugees, survivors of torture and war in their healing process, a group of activists and therapists founded EMPR. The organization offers physiotherapy, acupuncture, and rehabilitation programs to people in the camp on Lesvos. One example is a program to improve chronic injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder through the use of acupuncture, physiotherapy, therapeutic massage and herbal remedies. Through their work, EMPR has also created jobs for refugees who work, for example, as interpreters. The activists regularly go to the camp to care for people with physical disabilities.
Medical Volunteers International
People often suffer severe violence and are exposed to extreme situations during their flight to safety. The question of whether medical care is available can therefore often make the difference between life and death. Many of the people seeking protection who cross the Mediterranean in rubber boats arrive on Lesvos with terrible traumas and health problems. Medical Volunteers International treats up to 1000 people per month in Greece with basic medical care, psychological support, health promotion courses and much more.
School of Peace
The international School of Peace for children and adults on Lesvos offers the people in the camp the opportunity to take English courses and other school subjects. In addition, the School of Peace offers its younger students a special curriculum for adolescents, where they have the opportunity to learn everyday skills and abilities. The goal is to develop the students' self-confidence, academic performance and social skills. They are taught by teachers who are also refugees living in the camp. The school also promotes their experience, creativity and demonstrates self-confidence within the community. This serves as the main goal of the School of Peace: to strengthen people's self-confidence and assertiveness, to inspire them and to help them shape their lives in a positive way. Since the beginning in 2017, over 5000 students have attended courses of the School of Peace.
Boat Theater Group
People sometimes live for years in refugee camps without any perspective and under the most precarious circumstances. In order to confront the lack of hope and perspective, a group of refugees on Lesvos founded the "Boat Theater Group". 14 people come together regularly in this group to develop creatively and rehearse. In August 2021, the group performed their play for 10 days at the LeaveNoOneBehind Warehouse next to the camp, creating a place of encounter and art alongside the horror of the camp. In the meantime, the project has moved to Athens.
Tolou
Tolou is a non-profit association with the goal of promoting access to education and housing, as well as personal development. In the new camp on Lesvos, they have built a team of eleven Afghan volunteer teachers who design and lead classes there depending on their own abilities. On Lesvos alone, more than 200 students benefit from this service every day. However, several hundred refugees also live in Mytilene, which is why Tolou is also opening a classroom in this town, where around 100 students have the opportunity to learn English, French, Greek and painting. In order to offer psychological stability to its participants, Tolou has also rented two apartments in Athens to accommodate people and offer them a safe space while they complete administrative procedures and have the opportunity to attend to professional or family matters.
at-Fire
Several cities in Ukraine are under continuous bombardment by Russian artillery and air strikes. Acute disaster relief and firefighting are one of the main needs in the embattled regions. at-Fire specializes in international disaster relief and with the help of donations is able to buy expensive special equipment to improve Ukrainian disaster relief and at the same time train Ukrainian rescue workers.
FENIX Humanitarian Legal Aid
The violence against refugees at Europe's external borders escalates further and further. Human rights violations have become a daily occurrence, and refugees almost never have access to lawyers or information about their rights. Fenix challenges this through their work: Refugees receive free legal advice and representation as well as protection and support for mental health issues. Fenix works with a holistic approach: All those seeking advice receive holistic legal assistance, addressing their individual legal protection as well as mental health needs. Their special needs are taken into account and they are offered tools to cope with the very complicated procedures. The goal is to empower refugees and overcome barricades between them and their access to the legal system. In addition, Fenix brings cases to the Greek and European Courts to demand for compliance with human rights.
Wave of Hope for the Future
Wave of Hope for the Future is a network of self-organized schools - by refugees for refugees. The initiative was started by refugees in Moria camp on Lesvos and quickly expanded to other camps in Greece. In early 2019, Zekria Farzad began offering classes for children in the "olive grove" around Camp Moria. His only tool: a whiteboard on a bench. The initiative was quickly joined by other refugees. The initiative was quickly joined by other people on the move. Together, they began to build a network of schools that today offer classes in Art, English, Greek, Physical Education and other subjects to more than 4,000 students, and are even helping to rebuild a school in Afghanistan. The Wave of Hope School is an impressive example of refugees organizing themselves in the various camps and contributing to the enrichment of a diverse society.
Mushkila Kabira
Mushkila Kabira is the English transliteration of an Arabic phrase meaning ‘big problem’. This is the phrase its founders heard when they began volunteering in Greece, and it's the perfect way to introduce what sparked the creation of the Mobile Info Team itself. Mobile Info Team is a volunteer organization that provides information to asylum seekers, refugees and migrants in Greece and other European countries about the asylum procedure and other relevant issues. The team also supports individual cases, mainly in family reunifications, but also, for example, in the preparation for the asylum hearing or applications for integration measures. In addition, Mobile Info Team collects testimonials from asylum seekers to support their rights through public relations.
Exhibition Remember Moria
Our LNOB warehouse on Lesvos was transformed into an event center for the #RememberMoria exhibition. The exhibition was meant to commemorate the night when Camp Moria burned down completely and more than 14,000 people lost their last belongings and were forced onto the streets where they had to hold out for more than 14 days without sanitation or medical care. We wanted to remember a place that was called "the shame of Europe".
Parea Center Lesvos
Since the burning of Camp Moria, the Greek island of Lesbos has all but disappeared from public view. But still more than a thousand refugees are trapped on the island - and are held in prison-like conditions for months and years. Europe Cares consists of a permanent staff as well as volunteers from the camp who run the Paréa Center. Refugees receive hot meals there daily and can take advantage of various free assistance services offered by our partner organizations, such as legal advice, language courses, clothing and psychological counseling. Paréa Lesvos provides an important retreat for the refugees and hosts 10 other aid organizations. The center is located in the immediate vicinity of the camp on Lesvos and is visited daily by 200 to 400 camp residents.
Nachbarschaft e. V.
"Freiwillig Helfen" (FH) is a Berlin based network for refugees with a focus on integration assistance. Founded by volunteers from a Berlin emergency shelter, it provides non-partisan and non-denominational aid wherever help is urgently needed. In response to the war in Ukraine, FH has reactivated the "Volunteer Planner", which was already used in 2015 to successfully coordinate and organize tens of thousands of helpers across Europe. It is a non-commercial open source tool by volunteers for volunteers to easily and efficiently organize thousands of helpers.
Community Volunteers
We have been working with the people from the camp for over a year and include them in our daily work at the LNOB Warehouse and Community Center. In this way, we give the refugees a space to develop and to escape the daily life of the camp for a while. Additionally, we offer educational programs, such as English classes three times a week.
SOS Balkanroute
For years, the situation of people fleeing across the so-called Balkan route has been getting worse and worse. Closed borders, illegal and violent pushbacks, as well as completely inadequate conditions in the Bosnian camps deprive the protection seekers of their rights and often put them in life-threatening situations. SOS Balkanroute is committed to helping people who have almost completely disappeared from the news and has been organizing collection drives and donation transports along the Balkan route since 2019. They also provide medical care and have built up a network of helpers along the Balkan route.
Libereco
The activists behind the organization Libereco have been involved in Ukraine since the beginning of the war in 2014 and since February have been particularly committed to helping families, the elderly and people with disabilities. Since there is a lack of medical care and nursing facilities in large parts of the country, the organization has set itself the goal of renovating old people's and nursing homes and setting up assisted living together with local partner organizations. At the same time, Libereco is working on evacuations. In September, Libereco volunteers evacuated a family from one of the frontline regions in Ukraine. A few days later, the family's home was completely destroyed by a missile. It is often hours that make the difference between life and death.
One Happy Family
One Happy Family is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide a safe space for asylum seekers, volunteers and people from different nations to meet. For this purpose, the Community Center was built on the Greek island of Lesbos. Due to its geographical proximity to Turkey, Lesvos is often a stopover for most people fleeing war and crises. Here, asylum seekers are often stuck for several months due to bureaucratic hurdles. To fill the gap caused by insufficient humanitarian aid and lack of government support, One Happy Family, together with its partner organizations and at the initiative and request of the asylum seekers, offers many different projects, such as schools, sports programs or psychological support. The range of projects varies according to capacity and need. Through the Community Center, One Happy Family aims to involve the people living in the camps in brainstorming and decision-making in order to strengthen their autonomy, self-drive and sense of responsibility.
Women in Solidarity House
The Women in Solidarity House is a space for women living in the refugee camps Moria 2 and Kara Tepe. The Women in Solidarity House provides a safe environment for the women here and creates a shared community.
Just Action – Samos
On the Greek island of Samos, refugees are completely isolated from the villages and towns of the island: high security fences, surveillance cameras and security forces turn the place into a prison. Since April 2020, Just Action activists' free food supermarket on the Greek island of Samos has been supporting the local, as well as the refugee community with food packages and hygiene items. In addition to the food parcels and hygiene items, Just Action Samos volunteers cover the cost of the bus tickets that the refugees need to get from the camp to the food distribution. The goal is to ensure food security for all those in need on the island, while building more resilient structures to ensure future access to food for all people on Samos.
No Name Kitchen
The independent movement No Name Kitchen was founded in 2017 by volunteers and people on the move and supporting people in search of a better life along the Balkan and Mediterranean routes. Since day one, the activists have placed great emphasis on ensuring that all actions are based on the needs, suggestions and feedback of the people on the move. Volunteer teams are stationed at border crossings where people fleeing face long journeys and violent rejections. There, they are trying to combine humanitarian and political measures to equip people with resources for self-protection. No Name Kitchen provides access to medical care, food, and clothing while denouncing border abuses to raise awareness and advocate for policy change.
WARRIORS KDM e. V.
WARRIORS take care of the procurement and collection of relief supplies and ensure further coordination as well as necessary resources to transport them to Lviv. Thereby structures are used, which already existed before the war.
LeaveNoOneBehind Soforthilfe
As part of the emergency relief, team members from our #LeaveNoOneBehind team on the ground in Lesvos went shopping together with the people from the new Moria camp in order to meet individual essential needs of the people in the camp while bringing maximum self-determination and dignity to the people. Together we bought a variety of goods in the form of food, hygiene products, electric heaters, blankets, clothing and the like for and with the camp residents.
LNOB Warehouse Lesbos
The #LeaveNoOneBehind Warehouse is located less than a five-minute walk from the Kara Tepe camp and serves as a logistics center for all sorts of donations in kind. Through campaigns such as "Tour d'Amour" and "#10.000Schuhe", donations in kind could be collected and sorted in cooperation with other NGOs in Germany in order to deliver them to the camp residents on site in Lesvos. At the same time, the donations in kind could also be redistributed to other regions such as Chios, Samos, Athens and Thessaloniki, or even as far as Bosnia and Calais in northern France. In addition, the building serves as an event center for various happenings such as the exhibition "#RememberMoria", "The Boat Theater Group" or for discussion rounds with political delegations.
Human Aid Now
Human Aid Now provides medical care on the Greek island of Samos. Due to overcrowded camps and lack of services, medical care on the island is inadequate. With a group of 15 to 30 volunteers and translators, Human Aid Now provides basic medical care to over a hundred people daily and refers medical cases to the hospital. Due to the closure rules during the Corona pandemic, additional medical office space was needed. In addition, international volunteers could no longer come to the island, so Human Aid Now had asked a group of volunteers to remain in Greece during the lockdown to maintain operations. Therefore, the Safe Passage Foundation supported Human Aid Now in 2020 with 3427,50€ to cover the costs of medical office space, accommodation and food for the volunteers.
Civilian Crisis Unit Network
The Civilian Crisis Unit Network is an association of more than 30 NGOs from all over Germany. The people behind these NGOs are currently transporting over 150 pallets full of furnishings to set up a children's rehab in Ukraine to support children who have been through the worst. This is just one of many examples of the work being done by the Civilian Crisis Unit Network. The initiative brings together food, medical supplies, blankets and many other urgently needed relief items in warehouses and ships them to Ukraine in close cooperation with Ukrainian organizations.
Makerspace Lesvos
Camps for refugees are one of some of the worst places in the world. Some people live there for years under precarious conditions without any prospects. The goal of Makerspace Lesvos is to make life a little easier for the people by providing simple support. The people behind this small organization, many of them themselves refugees living in the camp, help repair and exchange phones, bicycles and clothes. They also teach each other how to make repairs in workshops. This solves problems - and provides small joys. The space allows people to share their technical skills, continue to develop them, and learn new ones. Being a valuable part of a team often restores the refugees' confidence. They reclaim some of the respect and dignity that is often lost through the systematic disempowerment and repression of humanity in the camps.
We become active where states fail to act. But only with your support!
With our work we put pressure on German politics to take responsibility and finally change something! Your donations will be used for the #LeaveNoOneBehind campaign: For our own projects, as well as for funded projects and organizations that provide urgently needed support at the EU’s external borders and refugee routes.