More than a million refugees have made the desperate journey to Europe in the last five years, using the Greek border islands with Turkey as a crossing point.

Once they get there, they are often left for months on end waiting for an answer to their asylum requests, living in horrid conditions.

But there is another side to this story. Some in the communities that host them say they feel forgotten too, left to deal with a problem that neither Europe nor the government in Athens does not want.

The shores of the Greek island of Lesvos have been the landing point for refugees for decades but became an international focal point during the height of the crisis in 2015-16.

How has the island been affected? How have the residents who were on the front lines of this crisis been treated by Europe, or the government in Athens?

Al Jazeera sent a correspondent to the island to speak with some of the islanders.