by Giorgos Tsitiridis, Program Officer of SolidarityNow in Northern Greece

“Once upon a time lived a wise Gypsy king, who loved books very much and owned many so that his citizens could educate themselves. He also had a donkey that he kept tied near the books to educate him as well.

One day, the heavens opened, and it rained so much that the rivers formed swept away everything! Among them, the wise king and the queen.

The donkey was left alone in the house, without food, and began gradually eating the books… And when they were finished, he too died.

Along with the donkey, all the Romani letters were lost…” (Gypsy myth of language)

The Romani language was affected by the languages ​​of all the European countries through which Roma passed.

November the 5^th was established in 2015 by UNESCO as World Roma Language Day. In 2018, sixteen member states of the Council of Europe recognized the Romani language as a minority language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

This day is an opportunity to recall the wealth of languages ​​and idioms that offer people diverse ways of expression. The Roma, victims of multiple stigmatization and prejudices, in their effort not to be the target of racist attacks, in many cases renounce elements of their culture and avoid learning and speaking their language. Language, manners, and customs take the form of an oppressive factor, which emphasizes differences, especially in the new generation that needs acceptance, resulting in the language becoming weaker and lost over time.

It is a duty, in a multicultural society of equality and inclusion, to support the ability of Roma to understand one or more spoken idioms of the Romani language which could be the key and not the brake for the inclusion of Roma in education. After all, eliminating school dropouts and understanding the importance of education is one of the main pillars of the Council of Europe and the new National Strategy for Roma Integration 2021-2030.

SolidarityNow has invested in relationships of horizontal cooperation and trust with Roma communities. In this context, the organization implemented and still does education and training programs, Roma History and creative writing courses, creative employment programs for children and teenagers as well as counseling on parenthood, breastfeeding, nutrition, and feminine hygiene issues for Roma women and teenagers.

Education and the right to preserve the special linguistic and cultural characteristics of each person is a priority for SolidarityNow and a non-negotiable value. It is indeed admirable that after five centuries of persecution, displacement, slavery, torture, and the holocaust, the Roma around the world managed to maintain an oral language and develop different dialects according to their region of origin.

An article by Moe Hashemi and Somayeh Nemati from Iran.

Moe and Somayeh have lived in Greece for some years after arriving as refugees.

Moe has been working for SolidarityNow as an interpreter and film maker for a long time and now he lives in the Netherlands where he reunited with his father after many years. The couple wrote the article in order to present the situation in Iran and what the current demonstrations following the dreadful event of Mahsa’s Amini death mean for the Iranian people. We, at SolidarityNow, publish the article in an effort to raise awareness and support to the Iranians who fight for equality and justice.

Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Kurdish girl.

She was in Tehran when the so-called “Morality Police” arrested her for not wearing her hijab properly (meaning that the hijab should cover her hair completely). Shortly after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took power during the 1979 Iranian revolution, the hijab became mandatory and the morality police were tasked with enforcing that and other restrictions. Hijabs are mandatory to wear in public for all women in Iran, regardless of religion or nationality. Amini was accused of violating the country’s law on headscarves. She was then severely tortured and beaten to death. The Iranian government denied her death being intentional and said she died from a heart stroke. After the coroner’s investigation, it was revealed that she died from a severe stroke to the head.

This sparked anger and fury and people took to the streets. It started with protests that intensified and Iran is now on the verge of a revolution, a feminine revolution. People are fed up with the Islamic Government. They want freedom. The motto of the revolution is “Woman, Life, Freedom”. Mahsa Amini’s hashtag broke the world record on Twitter and has been tweeted 120 million times up to now. In support of Amini, women are cutting their hair and men are shaving their heads as a symbolic gesture. Women in Iran are taking off their hijabs in the streets, and burning them. They are not doing this against Islam, but against the Islamic dictatorship of Iran. Protests have spread all over Iran and until now the regime has not been able to control it. Amini died on September 16^th, but throughout the protests many others have been killed. There is no official number to verify, but sources say that hundreds have been killed and thousands have been arrested. The government quickly cut-off the countries internet access so the world wouldn’t see what’s going on in Iran. But people found a way around. The regime also banned Instagram and Whatsapp so no news or video gets spread, but Iranians started using VPNs to bypass the censorship. Facebook and YouTube were already banned so most Iranians were using Instagram and Whatsapp. Elon Musk did announce that he has activated Starlink for Iran, but the problem is that Starlink needs terminals to be set up in the country, which the regime will not allow. The crackdown has intensified but people are still continuing.

People don’t want to stop the revolution, because they know that if they stop now, the regime will execute the arrested and nothing will change. But the regime is ruthless, and history shows that they will do a severe crackdown, and kill thousands if necessary. In the uprisings in 2019, 1500 people were killed. The regime is in a weak state, and is only standing by using force, but this time it’s different. The revolution started with women, against a misogynist regime. People are fearless, and they are chanting “death to Khamenei”, which is a serious crime and you can be executed for using this slogan. We have seen women’s rights movements in the past years, which is completely against the ideology of the Islamic republic, but this uprising is completely in another level. People have had enough. This is all happening at a time when Iran’s hardline government is under growing pressure with talks to revive the stalled 2015 nuclear agreement and the state of the economy under US sanctions, while ordinary Iranians are struggling to cope with soaring levels of inflation.

Many celebrities have supported the Iranian people, celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Yungblud, Justin Bieber, Roger Waters, Khaby and many more. Iranians across the globe joined the protests. This is the first time that all ethnic groups and political groups have joined to stand against the Iranian regime. The Iranians are now more united than ever before. Also, the Anonymous hacking group has stepped in and started an operation against the regime called OpIran. Until now they have hacked several government agencies and banks. They are paralyzing the Iranian dictatorship. This has become a global movement that needs support, but unfortunately western governments are not doing enough to support the Iranian people. The Iranians expect support, western governments should stop the nuclear deal with Iran, they should recall their embassies, and close Iranian embassies in their countries. The people of Iran are making history. Their revolution should be supported. They want freedom, the basic freedom that everyone has, like choosing what to wear. This uprising holds a feminist nature, and is just. The regime is using the same tactics that it has used for 40 years, calling the protestors rioters and evil. The regime had no place in Iran from the first day, they took power by force and have kept power by force. Unlike what the media shows, Iran is a very westernized country, and the new generations are fed up with Islamic laws. Many Iranians claim asylum in other countries to be allowed to practice Christianity and political freedom. Iran has a very educated population, and they are now standing up for what’s right. It’s time for change.

The revolution must be supported!

Dreams, disillusionment, fear and hope of six young people

SolidarityNow invites the public in the premiere of the short film “I Woke up at 18”, on Friday, September 30^th at 5:00 p.m., at the Danaos cinema (109 Kifissias Avenue).

The film “I Woke up 18” presents through the stories of its six young protagonists, the difficulties that unaccompanied children face as soon as they turn 18 and is hosted at the 28^th Athens International Film Festival.

According to the data of the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors-Ministry of Migration and Asylum, on September 1^st, 2022, the estimated number of unaccompanied children in Greece was 2,224. Greece takes care of them, by providing accommodation in suitable structures, psychosocial and legal aid and access to education. When children “turn 18” however, they are asked to leave the structures, regardless of their legal status, and make the transition to independent adult life. They thereby lose the care, security and the supportive framework provided so far. Consequently, previous social integration efforts are interrupted, and children are often deprived access to fundamental human rights such as health, work and education, pushed to the edge of society.

Director and script writer: Vera-Iona Papadopoulou

Directors of Photography: Nikos Palaiologos and Thodoris Nikolaou.

Trailer link: https://youtu.be/EE7-V8ZSo4I.

*The short movie was produced in the context of the European project “Building Futures, Sharing Good Practices: Supporting Migrant Children’s Transition to Adulthood” implemented by 5 partners: the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors-Ministry of Asylum and Migration and SolidarityNow from Greece, Convive – Fundación Cepaim from Spain and NIDOS, guardianship for refugees from the Netherlands, under the coordination of the Council of Europe. The project is funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Council of Europe.

From December 2018 to June 2022, SolidarityNow in partnership with STAR UK provided an innovative interactive and communication experience to its beneficiaries -refugees and asylum seekers- and to students-volunteers.

The aim of the program was on the one hand to challenge students’ daily life regarding stereotypes and prejudices through personal experience, and on the other hand, to strengthen beneficiaries’ knowledge in the Greek and English languages, providing a friendly and safe environment, thus make them feel more confident paving the way of social integration in Greece. Providing support to young refugees by young Greek students was an opportunity for both parties to experience together the importance of equal opportunities in a person’s life.

In the beginning of the program’s implementation, the students-volunteers were mainly from the Universities of Thessaloniki (Aristotle, University of Macedonia, International University of Greece), whereas in March 2020, after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, all actions became digital, fact that led to the expansion of the network to other Universities.

In addition, what was particularly emphasized during the program’s implementation was for refugees and asylum seekers to acquire the ability to take initiatives, not just develop skills. For this purpose, specially designed educational and recreational activities were organized, based on non-formal education, as well as significant partnerships with voluntary university networks. Also, the students-volunteers actively participated in the festival Refugee Week (20-26/6/2022) and in the Thessaloniki Pride Festival (25/6/2022).

Students become the new STARTnow leaders!

In a specifically designed multi-room within the Blue Refugee Center of SolidarityNow in Thessaloniki, students-volunteers will be the ones to continue “STARTnow”, by taking initiatives and interacting directly with the refugee population!

There, they will continue, through Conversation Clubs and other non-formal learning activities, their contact with refugees and asylum seekers, supporting them in learning Greek and English. The primary goal is always the development of language skills, recognizing the important role of language as the unique and essential tool for smooth social inclusion, especially when it is taught through alternative educational methods (discussion, interactive games, audiovisual media) as it suits to the youth!

*The program was implemented by SolidarityNow in partnership with STAR UK.

The German Foreign Minister, Analena Baerbock, visited SolidarityNow’s Athens Solidarity Center on Thursday 28^th July, on the first day of her arrival in Greece, where a discussion was held with representatives of civil society organizations.

The Chairman of SolidarityNow’s Board of Directors, Mr. Stelios Zavvos, welcomed the Minister to the Athens Solidarity Center and coordinated the discussion aiming to share information about the current situation of migration in Greece, the work of the participating organizations and the role of other European countries in managing the issue. The visit was an initiative of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the German Embassy in Greece, and the discussion was attended by the German Ambassador to Greece, Dr. Ernst Reichel. The representatives of the other three organizations which participated were: Lefteris Papagiannakis, Greek Council for Refugees, Alexandros Chrysomallos, Equal Rights Beyond Borders, and Maria Moudatsou, PRAKSIS.

“It is with great pleasure that we welcomed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Baerbock, at our emblematic Solidarity Center in Athens where we had the opportunity to present the work carried to support the most vulnerable members of our society and, together with the representatives of other organizations, to inform her of the issues concerning refugees and migrants in our country, but also to emphasize the solidarity with which Greeks have welcome refugees in recent years and the need for further practical support from Europe, always in the spirit and vision of European solidarity”, Mr. Zavvos stated at the end of the visit.

“It is extremely positive that the German Minister of Foreign Affairs held a meeting with representatives of NGOs active in Refugee and Migration issues. On this occasion, and on behalf of the Greek Council for Refugees, she was informed about issues of pushbacks, reception, and difficulty in accessing asylum, the lack of a national policy for integration, and the criminalization of solidarity, and the action of NGOs”, Lefteris Papagiannakis, Director of the Greek Council for Refugees.

“At the meeting with the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, we had the opportunity to highlight the issue of the complete lack of integration prospects for recognized refugees in Greece, as well as the implementation of a policy to deter migratory flows, either through obstacles in accessing the asylum process on the islands and the mainland, when returns to Turkey have been suspended, or through a systematic reduction in benefits for asylum seekers. We also expressed our concern about returns of recognized and rejected applicants from Germany to Greece within the framework of Dublin refugees in the future, as this would constitute a violation of fundamental rights and expose them to pushbacks, exploitation, and inhumane living conditions”, Alexandros Chrysomallos, Equal Rights Beyond Borders. 

“On behalf of PRAKSIS, we informed the German Foreign Minister on issues relating to refugee and migrant support, the needs, gaps, and weaknesses of social inclusion, as well as our concerns for the immediate future. Reception, housing, vulnerable population groups, issues related to central policy in support of refugees and migrants, were the main topics discussed”, Maria Moudatsou, Vice-President of the Board of Directors of PRAKSIS.

Beneficiaries of the “Guaranteed Minimum Income” are excluded from its payment due to an increase in the objective value of their property

The Social Service of SolidarityNow’s Athens Solidarity Center observes an increase in people visiting the Center in an effort to understand why they are no longer entitled to financial support through the “Minimum Guaranteed Income” (MGI) program.

The MGI is a unique source of income for hundreds of thousands of Greek citizens and foreigners living in Greece, below the poverty line. The beneficiaries of this aid are determined by income and other property criteria, which have been determined on the basis of its fairest possible distribution.

In practice, however, it can be observed that sometimes decisions concerning general economic policy and indirectly leading to the redefinition of the presumptions of subsistence exclude from the MGI individuals and families whose real economic situation does not justify this exclusion.

Such an example is the recent redefinition of the objective values of real estate and their increase, especially in neighborhoods of the center of Athens. Due to this development, MGI beneficiaries, who are beneficiaries of SolidarityNow’s Solidarity Center in Athens, are excluded from its payment, due to the increase in the objective value of their property, in which they live.

A typical case is the case of a Center’s beneficiary, whose objective apartment value was increased from 60,000 to 115,000 euros, thus far exceeding the limit of 90,000 established for the MGI. This woman has no other income, she is over 55 years old and faces health problems, which make the payment of the Minimum Guaranteed Income literally a matter of survival.

Finally, it is worth noting that this development does not concern only MGI, as this property limit is applied to determine the beneficiaries and other social benefits, such as the pension of uninsured elderly people, etc.

by the Social Service of the Athens Solidarity Center by SolidarityNow

The income support provided through the welfare program “Guaranteed Minimum Income” (GMI) is the only means of financial aid for hundreds of thousands of Greek citizens as well as foreigners living in Greece in conditions of extreme poverty. The beneficiaries of the program are defined through income and other property criteria, which have been determined with a view to its distribution as fair as possible.

However, in practice, it is noted that sometimes, decisions concerning the general economic policy leading indirectly to the redefinition of living standards, exclude from the specific financial support, individuals and families whose real financial situation does not justify this exclusion. 

Such an example is the recent redefinition of the objective property values and their increase, especially in the center of Athens. Due to this change, beneficiaries of the “Guaranteed Minimum Income” program, who are beneficiaries of the Athens Solidarity Center by SolidarityNow, are excluded from its payment, due to the rise of the objective value of their property, in which they live.

Mrs. E.X. case

The case of E.X., beneficiary of the Athens Solidarity Center by SolidarityNow, is one among many other serious cases. The objective value of her apartment increased from 60,000 to 115,000 euros, thus far exceeding the limit of 90,000 established for the GMI. This woman has no other income, is over 55 years old and suffers a lot of health problems that make the financial support of the “Guaranteed Minimum Income” literally a matter of survival.

Finally, it is worth noting that this condition does not only concern the GMI, as the specific asset limit is applied to determine the beneficiaries of other social benefits, such as the uninsured elderly pension, etc.

Learn more about the welfare program “Guaranteed Minimum Income”, by visiting the webpage of the Greek Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs: https://ypergasias.gov.gr/en/combating-poverty/.

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*From 1/8/2021 till 31/7/2022, the Athens Solidarity Center by SolidarityNow operation is supported through a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation in the framework of its global COVID-19 Relief Initiative.

**From 1/7/2021 till 30/6/2022, Kahane Foundation supports the Psychosocial service of the Athens Solidarity Center by SolidarityNow.

*** The Athens Solidarity Center is also supported by the Municipality of Athens.

In a celebration organized by Solidarity Now, students from Ukraine were donated school items by Public!

Today, SolidarityNow, Public, and Desmos welcomed 80 children, students at the Ukrainian Community’s Sunday School and the “Homework & Creative Activities Center” of SolidarityNow in the organization’s Athens Solidarity Center.

The aim of organizing this event was to distribute school supplies donated by Public to children from Ukraine, thus contributing to the creation of a safe environment and smooth integration into the Greek school environment. During the event, children had the opportunity to take part in educational and entertaining activities implemented by the SolidarityNow teachers. They also had the chance to get to know each other and acquire all the necessary equipment for the new school year!

“At a time when the concepts of peace and safety are not obvious, all of us- at Public- join forces with leading bodies from Civil Society to create a more inclusive tomorrow, based on solidarity and compassion. It is our great pleasure to work with SolidarityNow and DESMOS and offer to the Ukrainian children equal access to education along with some useful supplies to help them make a fresh start in the next school year”, Ilina Pomaska, Head of Brand PR & Engagement at Public Group.

“At SolidarityNow we are always next to the children who were forced to leave their school environment, their home and country because of the war. Today, following the donation made by Public, and the support of Desmos, we -all together- offered the necessary school supplies to students from Ukraine for the next school year. SolidarityNow’s priority is to support the inclusion of refugee and migrant children in formal education, and this is made feasible through the provision of non-formal educational services in the context of the “All Children in Education” program implemented with the support of UNICEF in open accommodation structures throughout Greece”, Marilyn Polena, General Director of SolidarityNow.

“We are extremely proud to contribute to the proper integration of the children-refugees from Ukraine into the Greek schools. Desmos is the most reliable connecting link for donations in Greece and -always true to our mission-, we made sure that the significant Public’s donation of stationery and school supplies was used in the best possible way by SolidarityNow specialized team so that the children feel as ready as possible for the next school year”, Ekavi Vallera, Director of Strategic Planning of the Non-Profit Association DESMOS.

*From 1/8/2021 to 31/7/2022 the operation of the Athens Solidarity Center is supported by a donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), as part of the SNF’s International COVID-19 Action Initiative to Combat the Consequences of the Pandemic.

*The “Pathway for All Children in Education” program is implemented with the support and funding of UNICEF Greece.