Training Seminar related with the social inclusion of Refugees in Greece

Between 14 and 18 of January, in the framework of the Erasmus+ KA2 project Safer Places Hopeful Refugees there was organised in Greece, a 5-day training seminar which focused on best practices in relation with the integration of refugees in Greece. During this training, 24 participants from Greece, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Sweden and Slovenia had the chance to visit organisations that are working with refugees in Greece and discuss methods and approaches.

The training started in the first day with the presentation of basic facts and figures related with the refugee crisis in Greece and the presentation of two short movies. The first one is the 4.1 miles documentary, directed by Daphne Matziaraki and focusing on the arrival of refugees in Lesvos during the summer of 2015.

The second video projected was a video developed by Action Aid Hellas focusing on the parallel stories of the refugees and the Greeks and aiming at creating empathy between the two populations.

The next days focused on study visits to organisations active in the support of refugees in Greece:

Melissa Women Immigrants Network: Women Organisation focusing on the empowerment of women refugees.

TOPOS ALLOU Theatre: Theatre that is working on projects related with the use of art in order to bring together refugees and local population and that it is currently presenting a theatre performance on migration.

Action Aid: NGO that supports refugees in multiple ways. In the framework of the seminar, Action Aid has organised an interactive sensitization activity based on forum theatre.

Arc of the world: Organisation offering social and education support for deprived children.

Generation 2.0 RED: Organisation focusing on the support for refugees’ rights, organisation of language courses for refugees and preparation on naturalisation and asylum interviews.

Smile of the Child: Organisation that is working for the support of the children that are in disadvataged conditions.

Network for the Rights of children: Organisation that is working for the support of the rights of children as they stem from the UN Convention on the Childrens’ Rights.

Solidarity Now: NGO that is working for multiple support for refugees (focusing also on the psychological issues).

Medecins sans Frontiers: NGO that is working all over the world in order to provide medical support to refugees and emergency situations.

PRAKSIS: NGO that focuses on the provision of socio-economic support for refugees.

Open Cultural Centre: Organisation which is organising activities for the integration of refugees in Northern Greece.

Below you can see some photos from the training