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Category: ΔΕΛΤΙΟ ΤΥΠΟΥ
NGOs urge UN High Commissioner for Refugees to act on refugee rights during Greece visit
Giorgos Moutafis for SolidarityNow
28 November 2019 – On Wednesday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, visited the Reception and Identification Centre in Moria – Lesvos to witness first-hand the human cost of flawed migration policies which have stranded over 39,000 people in overcrowded and dangerous refugee camps.
Ahead of Grandi’s visit, SolidarityNow together with 16 other NGOs* working in Greece delivered a written statement urging the High Commissioner to address with Greek authorities significant concerns regarding access to asylum procedures, provision of basic services and inadequate protection of children. The signatories also flagged the need for the Greek authorities to implement integration measures and urged the High Commissioner to join Greece’s efforts and actively engage EU Member States in the need for better mechanisms to share responsibility for refugees arriving in Europe.
Since July 2019, thousands of newly arrived asylum seekers don’t have access to the public healthcare system, a gap which puts peoples’ lives at risk. At the same time, the postponement of the implementation of the law on guardianship (4554/2018) violates children’s rights, as they are left without a guardian to support and protect them at every stage of the reception and legal procedure. Pending the implementation of the government’s new action plan for the protection of unaccompanied children, and with the number of unaccompanied children in the country at its highest, protection standards are worsening with thousands of children sleeping among adults, without appropriate shelter or protection, and without access to basic services or resources.
Furthermore, Greece’s new law on international protection, inter alia, abolishes basic guarantees of the asylum procedure at first instance and introduces procedural and substantial obstacles that endanger the right to an effective remedy at second instance, raising concerns about the fairness and effectiveness of the asylum system, as a whole.
Antigone Lyberaki, SolidarityNow’s General Manager said:
“The Closed Detention Centres exercise a pervasive corrosive influence on society. This is not only due to the impact on the rights of those incarcerated within the walls of such Centres. More important is the effect of projecting a negative image of asylum seekers as a potential threat to society at large. It is my fervent wish that these potential impacts are seriously taken into consideration in deciding how these Centres will operate”.
*ActionAid, Arsis, Danish Refugee Council, Defence for Children International, Diotima, Elix, Greek Council for Refugees, Greek Forum of Refugees, Help Refugees, International Rescue Committee, Medecins du Monde, Mobile Info Team, Network for Children’s Rights, Oxfam, Refugee Legal Support, SolidarityNow, Terre des hommes Hellas
The new SolidarityNow awareness campaign entitled: “You Can’t See Them” is on air!
“You Can’t See Them.” This is the key message of the new SolidarityNow awareness campaign launched nationwide to inform and raise public awareness of the organization’s diverse actions on the side of the most vulnerable people and of its role in enhancing and empowering their integration without being visible thus, “we can’t see them”. Through this awareness campaign the organization (re)introduces itself to the wider public.
The campaign’s protagonists are SolidarityNow’s beneficiaries, as well as employees of the organization that supported its development.
“You Can’t See Them”
The new TV spot is airing on TV stations as a social message; through this spot SolidarityNow aims to make within 48” its own mark on the country’s humanitarian map and to inform the wider public about its actions.
In the TV spot, we see scenes of everyday life unfolding in the city: we are wondering around a downtown square on a sunny afternoon. In a café, we see friends drinking their coffee and chatting. A group of friends celebrates one’s birthday, next to them two friends are having coffee while one waitress is serving another group. Sitting on a bench, a man and a woman are happily talking. Two parents play with their children in the square.
Looking at these scenes, nothing gives us the “other side” and the twist. Because in reality at that square, we see a homeless man who was sleeping on the streets for three years. We see a frightened woman who had long been abused by her former partner. We see a couple who had been living in poverty for years without any work. We see a family of refugees saved by the war and the cold waters of the Aegean.
But you still, cannot see them.
SolidarityNow, supported them to restart their lives from scratch through psychosocial support, housing and educational programs to help them re-integrate. To date, we have done this with more than 300,000 people in need. And we keep doing it.
“At SolidarityNow we already count six years of continuous and effective action. As an organization operating in Greece, we traveled through the troubled waters of the economic – but also refugee – crisis, and – urgently – we became an organization that learned swimming and navigation while already in the water”, notes Antigone Lyberaki, the SolidarityNow General Manager. And she continues: “With this campaign, we believe we highlight the role of SolidarityNow in helping to create the modern conditions needed to rebuild the lives of those in need, with dignity and perspective. The goal of all our actions aims for people’s smooth integration and their return to normality. So, we can’t see them and distinguish them“.
The campaign’s how and where
Targeting to get the message across, SolidarityNow’s awareness campaign will be “on air” for the general public starting mid-November and for the next two months, and through various communication tools and actions:
- The TV spot (https://youtu.be/4u8VBx6G7GE) “You Can’t See Them” (aired pro bono as social message by the TV Channels)
- Special tribute to the SolidarityNow website
- Print ads and electronic ads
- Online campaign in the organization’s social media pages and accounts
- Thematic tribute in the organization’s e-newsletter
- Targeted articles in the press
- Human stories, with ‘heroes’ the people empowered and supported by the organization’s programs, published on the website, social media and the press.
The SolidarityNow awareness campaign was carried out pro bono by SohoSquare and the advertisement “You Can’t See Them” is a production of Foss Productions.
Stay tuned & follow our digital campaign!
(Ελληνικά) TA NEA: ΑΝΤΙΓΟΝΗ ΛΥΜΠΕΡΑΚΗ_Δύσκολες αλήθειες και βολικοί μύθοι
(Ελληνικά) Active citizens fund: 4,87 εκ ευρώ για τα πρώτα 42 έργα που έχουν επιλεγεί προς επιχορήγηση
(Ελληνικά) Το SolidarityNow συμμετέχει στο Job Fair Διασύνδεσης Προσφύγων και Μεταναστών με την Αγορά Εργασίας του ACCMR
(Ελληνικά) 15 Οργανώσεις για το προσφυγικό καλούν την κυβέρνηση σε μη ψήφιση του νομοσχεδίου για το άσυλο πριν υπάρξει ουσιαστική διαβούλευσή του
The 1st Job Fair of SolidarityNow is successfully completed!
Alexandros Avramidis for SolidarityNow
“We, at SolidarityNow, believe that the best service for people is to teach them to swim, at the pace they want, at the speed they want”
SolidarityNow’s 1st Job Fair was completed with great success. Refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, agencies, bodies and private companies in Thessaloniki gathered for the first time, sat at the same table and discussed labor issues. At SolidarityNow we believe that refugees’ and migrants’ integration in the Greek society requires equal opportunities and access to the job market. The partnership of -institutional and non-institutional- bodies and stakeholders at our organization’s 1st Job Fair shows that this is possible.
The attendance at the two-day Job Fair (September 26 & 27) has exceeded our expectations. Around 500 people, refugees and migrants looking for work, representatives of organizations and companies came to the organization’s Blue Refugee Center. Specifically, 375 people, women and men aged 18-60, from different countries including Syria, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nigeria and Iran, participated in the two-day festival. The Fair provided the opportunity to learn about important issues related to their labor rights, to exchange views, to be taught by experienced speakers, to take a professional photo for their resume in the photo booth that was included for this purpose. There was even an original online game application they could play with to help them become familiar with the job search process.
“A man who has no job is going through difficult times”, we could say, paraphrasing the words of the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw. The 1st Job Fair was organized on the occasion of the urgent needs of our beneficiaries. At the Solidarity Centers in Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as at the Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki, people from all over the world seek career counseling at the Employability Service, which is provided free of charge. “People are sometimes confused – they think the best “lesson” they can offer to vulnerable people is to embrace them tightly, to keep them in their own lifeboat. At SolidarityNow, we believe that the best service for people is to teach them to swim, at the pace they want, at the speed they want”, said SolidarityNow’s General Manager Antigone Lyberaki on the opening day of the 1st Job Fair, an initiative of the SIRIUS* program.
The businesses and agencies that presented their activities, were in return informed about how to reach out and collaborate with the refugee and migrant population.
We can learn from each other.
Beneficiaries of the organization shared their own success stories in the workplace providing a source of inspiration to all. “The job for us is like our ‘heart’, it gives us life and reason for our existence,” said Deborah from Nigeria, one of the speakers who lives and works in Greece. “Some people have said that they do not rent their shops to refugees. But I found a shop and soon I will open my own pastry shop. All Greeks will soon have my sweets in their fridge. For some this sounds like a joke, but tomorrow you will tell your friends, ‘let’s go for coffee at Lade’. Your opinion of your own life will change. One has to change his life and become more successful”, stressed Loghman, Kurdish from Iran, who did not give up and will open soon his own pastry shop in Thessaloniki.
At SolidarityNow we believe that everyone should have equal access to the labor market and equal opportunities; and the Job Fair was the best channel for this powerful message to be heard. Antigone Lyberaki noted: “The successful completion of the 1st Job Fair for refugees and migrants makes us even more responsible for what we have started. Our next goal is to make this event happen not only in Thessaloniki but also in other Greek cities!”.
* The SIRIUS program “Skills and Integration of Immigrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the European Labor Market”, funded by the European Union, started in January 2018 and lasts three years. The program involves 11 actors from 7 countries. The program in Greece is implemented by SolidarityNow.
*The Blue Refugee Center Blue, launched in 2016, is supported by the UNHCR and funded by the European Union.
*The Employment Service operates at SolidarityNow’s Solidarity Centers in Athens and Thessaloniki as well as at the Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki, as one of the many services provided free of charge to anyone in need.
Completion of the program: “Migrant & Youth Social Inclusion Through Entrepreneurship – #MySite”
Alexandros Avramidis
23 young individuals -Greeks & refugees/migrants- were supported in order to become the Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow
SolidarityNow celebrated the completion of the “Migrant & Youth Social Inclusion Through Entrepreneurship” (MYSITE) program in a closing event that was held in order to celebrate entrepreneurship, employment and social inclusion, at the Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki.
MYSITE lasted 18 months and was the result of a partnership among five organizations from five different European countries with the common goal to promote entrepreneurship as a means of livelihood and financial independence for young people, to promote the social integration of migrants and/or refugees as well as to reintegrate young people into the labor market in the five participating countries (Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Italy, Spain).
The event for the completion of MYSITE took place on September 26th, as a side event of the 1st SolidarityNow’s Job Fair. T
Also, they had the opportunity to follow presentations on a variety of topics related to entrepreneurship and labor market, such as:
- SolidarityNow’s employability programs, strategy and priorities
- Presentation of the lessons learned from the program and best practices for implementing similar entrepreneurship programs
- Presentation of the program’s results while the students, trainer and mentors shared their personal experiences of the program.
MYSITE had three objectives that were achieved during its 18-month implementation, including the training of 23 young people in Athens and Thessaloniki (Greek and refugees/migrants) on key entrepreneurship issues and job advice from experienced entrepreneurs (mentors), the development of 20 business plans with the support of trainers and mentors, and a research on the landscape and policies for youth and migrant entrepreneurship, as well as the resources made available to young entrepreneurs in each participating country.
For the research aspect, SolidarityNow examined the conditions of entrepreneurship in Greece for young people and migrants, by conducting interviews with experts, young Greek and young migrant entrepreneurs. The resulting report includes information on the Greek national context, the legal, political and institutional framework, opportunities and measures for entrepreneurship, challenges and barriers for entrepreneurs, and recommendations for creating a better more environmentally friendly entrepreneurship environment for migrants and young people in Greece.
Find out more about the results of the research here: https://www.solidaritynow.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Greece-National-Report.pdf.
*MYSITE was implemented with funding by the ERASMUS+ program of the European Commission in 5 EU countries (Spain, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, and Greece) by the following partners: SolidarityNow (Greece), Asociacion Socio Educativa Llere (Spain), S.F.Or. Centro Studi Formazione Orientamento (Italy), Aequitas (Cyprus) and The People for Change Foundation (Malta), as the project leader.
**The Blue Refugee Center, founded in 2016, is supported by the UNHCR and funded by the European Union.
SolidarityNow’s First Job Fair is a fact
Alexandros Avramidis
Thessaloniki, September 23, 2019
“The right to work is universal. If we are open to difference, people can become carriers of knowledge, development, and creativity. All they need is to be given the opportunity to do so”.
Empowerment, job searching techniques, CV preparation, labor rights, skills development, business connectivity and entrepreneurship are some of the topics to be discussed at the first Job Fair organized by SolidarityNow on 26th and 27th September, in the city of Thessaloniki, at the Blue Refugee Center. This action is an initiative of the SIRIUS program, aiming to bring together refugees, migrants, asylum seekers and companies operating in Greece.
The Job Fair is a new initiative of the organization, which aims to connect people of different cultures with new work contexts and to inform and support Greek employers in order for them to reach refugees and migrants.
The integration of refugees and migrants into the Greek labor market and therefore into Greek society is a process with many challenges. The lack of knowledge of the Greek language and cultural differences in combination with high rates of unemployment and discrimination in the country, create additional barriers of entry into the labor market. If we are open to difference, people can become carriers of knowledge, development, and creativity. All they need is to be given an opportunity. SolidarityNow through its Employment & Job Counseling Service, which operates at the Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki, but also at the organization’s Solidarity Centers in Athens and Thessaloniki, strives to create conditions for equal access and opportunities for all.
“It is very important for us at SolidarityNow to inform our beneficiaries, not only about ways to overcome challenges at the workplace, but also to encourage Greek businesses to pave the way for recruitment”, notes Ioanna Fourkiotou, Director of SolidarityNow’s activities in northern Greece and responsible for the organization of the Job Fair.
In this first effort we will be honored with the presence of various organizations and businesses, as well as refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, who will share their relevant experiences. The main objective of the Job Fair organized by SolidarityNow is to promote professional rehabilitation through direct contact and dialogue, and the exchange of views and ideas, to solve concerns and questions but also to create the basis for a better tomorrow, with more workplace opportunities for all.
* The SIRIUS program “Skills and Integration of Immigrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the European Labor Market”, funded by the European Union, started in January 2018 and lasts three years. The program involves 11 actors from 7 countries. The program in Greece is implemented by SolidarityNow.
*The Blue Refugee Center Blue, launched in 2016, is supported by the UNHCR and funded by the European Union.
*The Employment Service operates at SolidarityNow’s Solidarity Centers in Athens and Thessaloniki as well as at the Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki, as one of the many services provided free of charge to anyone in need.