One of the first to welcome beneficiaries at the Athens Solidarity Center, expresses her involvement and feelings.
by Vicky Anastasiou,
Reception officer at the Athens Solidarity Center
Is solidarity the answer to the humanitarian crisis? Yes, it is; and at Athens Solidarity Center we turn solidarity into action, in a continuous effort to make the desired, feasible.
People who come to the Center belong to the most vulnerable groups of the population, the majority of whom consists of refugees or migrants who managed to reach Greece facing serious risks, sometimes as survivors of war, but also of Greek people, unemployed, uninsured, elderly, and large families.
Their primary request is to obtain asylum so as to ensure some months of remaining in a European country. Refugees and migrants, most of them only speak their native language, desperately seeking for shelter. Initially, they try to find how to make an appointment for an interview to submit their asylum application. At this stage of the process they need legal support to be classified as vulnerable and recorded quickly.
For most of the refugees and asylum seekers, the above is the beginning of a very long procedure that can last several months until the asylum request submission and so many others until the final decision of the authorities is certain.
In the meantime, all these people need to secure their livelihoods. Therefore, accommodation emerges as the next request. Our daily practice shows that it is common to wait hours until it is their turn to social service, while dozens of requests are submitted every day. Because the capacity of the accommodation structures is limited, priority is given to unaccompanied minors and families with many children. This is because the possible, what can we succeed in our capacity limits, it is a realistic goal, the fulfillment of which can act as a catalyst for a meaningful and organized assistance and thus the moral duty of mutual aid will become reality.
Therefore, solidarity is not just the remedy to the economic impasse; simultaneously expresses the motivation and hope that will help us manage the pneumatic impasse too.
*The Athens Solidarity Center is accessible to all people regardless of nationality, religion, ethnic origin, or social status. The Center offers a comprehensive set of services to refugees, migrants and Greeks who are in need (legal, social, and psychological support, helpline and counseling for families, children, and adolescents (with the partnership of Together for the Children), children friendly space (through the Network for Children’s Rights), asylum office services, following an appointment by the central Asylum Service.