ALIEN

ATHENS, DECEMBER 5-9 2016

Plan of our presentation

▪ About project▪ Team of teachers▪ Places we’ve visited▪ Meetings with representatives of organisations▪ Migration-findings▪ Sources of information▪ Research methods▪ Team project▪ Final remarks

About project

Aim of the project

▪ Contributing to greater equality and social cohesion within Europe through a series of knowledge-exchange activities with diverse stakeholders (those included academics, migrant communities, NGOs, local authorities)

▪ Understanding the complexities of migration

▪ Advancing young people’s intercultural competences

▪ Interdisciplinary cooperation of academic staff and students

Living Lab

▪ Interactive think-tank

▪ Input for project’s materials

▪ Exchange of ideas

Innovathens▪ Established in May, 2014

▪ Business-conference centre

▪ Main technological and financial partner: Samsung

▪ One of the most renowned buildings in Athens

▪ Over 900 000 visitors each year

Team of teachers

▪ dr Marta Pachocka (SGH)

▪ prof. Ewa Satalecka (PJAIT)

▪ Kinga Garnette-Skorupska (PJAIT)

▪ Adam Cooke (GLYNDWR)

▪ Katerina Antonaki (Technopolis City of Athens)

▪ Maria Leinvuo (Aalto)

Place we’ve visited

1.City of Athens2.Community of Afghanistan3.Sudanese Refugees Association in Greece4.Federation of Albanian Associations in Greece5.Solidarity Now6.Melissa Network7.Generation 2.08.Greek Forum of Migrants9.Greek Forum of Refugees10.Kindergarten11.Refugee Camp

City of Athens

▪ Meeting with Lefteris Papagiannakis -

the Vice Mayor on Migrant and Refugee Affairs

▪ Overview of the municipality’s role

in accommodating migrants

▪ Relations with communities of migrants

▪ Cooperation with UNHCR

▪ Security of the City

▪ Obsolete system designed for a much lower number of refugees

Lefteris Papagiannakis

Community of Afghanistan

▪ Non-existent policy of family reunification

▪ Language courses (English, Greek, 2/week)

▪ Cooperation with UNHCR and NGOs

▪ Research on migrants and refugees from Afghanistan

▪ No financial support for students

▪ No will to learn the language -> Greece is not the target country

Sudanese Refugees Association in Greece▪ Help to all migrants, not just from Sudan

▪ Skype interviews

▪ Space for safe meetings

▪ Cooperation with NGOs

▪ Bureaucracy problems

▪ „Actions instead of promises”

▪ Accommodation help

Federation of Albanian Associations in Greece

▪ Help for migrants (second generation migrants as well)

▪ Aims to maintain the national identity (culture, language, history and geography lessons)

Solidarity Nowconsists of a network of people and organizations whose goal is to assist and support those most affected by the economic and humanitarian crises in Greece. Through the provision of services to both the local Greek and migrant populations, we seek to restore the vision of a strong Europe based on solidarity and open values.

Melissa Network

▪ Organization supporting women among refugees and migrants

▪ Foreign language courses

▪ Selection of workshops for interested women

▪ Childcare

▪ Need for spaces dedicated to women

Generation 2.0

▪ Established as on organization fighting for the second generation migrants’s rights

▪ Currently– multidimensional, long-term help for refugees and migrants

▪ “Social research&social actions”

▪ System supervision

▪ French language courses

Greek Forum of Migrants

▪ 39 member organizations in Greece

▪ Intermediary between people in need and appropriate organizations

▪ Legal/administrative/humanitarian help

▪ 4-month courses for refugee students

Greek Forum of Refugees

▪ Organization created for empowering of the refugee voice

▪ Connecting different refugee associations

▪ Connecting refugees with other organizations and NGO’s

▪ Dedicated to integrate refugees with the local community

▪ Organizing meetings between the communities, trying to find the solution for the refugee’s problems

▪ Problem with relocation system -> people are waiting for the relocation for more than one year, they don’t know what will happen with them. Lack of solidarity from PL and HU -> this relocation system also made some tensions between the refugees (program mainly concerns Syrian) -> it is providing inequality and injustice between them. In the opinion of refugees, war in Iraq, in Afghanistan and Syria are the same kind of war so why the relocation system only recognizes Syrian people?

▪ Successful integration of refugees is crucial but one can only integrate when it has peace and stable situation -> this is not provided, mainly because of the lack of good integration policy and lack of immigration law

Munting Nayon Cultural Education Center (Kindergarten)

▪ Established in 1994, still acting despite multiple issues with bureaucracy and xenophobic attacks

▪ Integration

▪ Foreign language classes (English, Greek)

▪ Small groups (18 nationalities)

▪ “self-help”

▪ Workshops for parents

Refugee camp

Refugee camp

http://youtube.com/v/PFgSyNpbwlE

Meetings with representatives from organisations

UNHCR meeting ▪ inside on how it is to work with refugees from daily perspective. What is important,

is the fact that the majority of the time is spent in the hospitals.

▪ Greece is under huge crisis

▪ 27% of unemployment rate in general

▪ 60% of unemployment rate within young people

▪ For the majority of migrants and refugees Germany are the final destination.

▪ Average time of staying in Greece is 6 months (used to be 2-3) and the process is very slow. The whole procedure is a thing that could be optimized for efficiency.

AI/OXFAM

Crisis is caused by the European policies (really?)

▪ legal cases and the closure of the borders – late 2015 and early 2016

▪ EU – Turkey deal is not working

▪ 750 people returned – 20 000 asylum seekers

▪ They will try to go anyway

▪ Everyone who came to Greek islands after the agreement is not eligible for the asylum

▪ Greek authorities have no plan.

▪ European public need to be engaged

▪ Museum without a home

Migration- findings

▪ No migration law

▪ Slow, complicated bureaucracy

▪ Problems of next generations of migrants living in Greece

▪ Adjustment in the opinions on women’s role in the society (cultural differences)

▪ Validation of studies

▪ Citizenship and residence permits issues

Sources of information

▪ No data within the organizations or classified data

▪ State data

▪ OECD, UNHCR data

▪ Fieldwork

Research methods

▪ Fieldwork (interviews with migrants, meeting in the city hall)

▪ Multimedia (films, pictures)

Team Project

Team Project - Patrycja

▪ 3 students (1 from SGH, 1 from the University of Athens (design), 1 from PJAIT)▪Multidimensional analysis of different aspects of migration and problems that migrants face

Team Project – Ania and Michał

▪ 2 students from SGH, 1 student from the University of Athens (design)

▪ City of Athens’ involvement in migrants’ issues

▪ Legislation

▪ Multidimensional analysis of different aspects of migration and problems that migrants face

Team Project-Magda, Cezary, Kacper

▪ 5 students ( 1 from PJAIT, 1 from Wrexham Glyndwr University, 3 from SGH)

▪ Focus on the integration policy, law issues, long term economic approach to the immigration crisis (considering refugees and migrants as necessary influx of workforce)

Team Project- Samar ang Laura

▪ 2 students from Aalto University

▪ Focus on the mass media effects on global perception of migration

Outlining most important issues for the further research▪ Lack of the immigration law

▪ Problem with accreditation of the refugees’ education and work experience

▪ need of activation of the refugees

▪ Concerning economic perspective, governments see the immigration crisis only in short terms (as spending) while according to the OECD reports in the long term, Europe cannot stand without influx of the immigrant workforce -> that is why good and complex integration policies are crucial

▪ Providing actions focused on helping refugees to understand European culture and woman role in the society( should be a part of the integration policy)

Final remarks

▪ Need for more study visits

▪ „Policy-makers” level meetings

▪ Propaganda vs objectivism

▪ Communication issues with design students

▪ Differences in opinions due to experience (Greeks vs Poles)