Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-05-30

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] UNICEF's Marie-Pierre Poirier talks to ANA-MPA about education for refugee children in Greece

[02] Greece included for the first time in annual 'Wiki Loves Earth' photo contest

[01] UNICEF's Marie-Pierre Poirier talks to ANA-MPA about education for refugee children in Greece

Poirier was in Athens and the Aegean island of Lesvos for four days, accompanied by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and singer Nana Mouskouri, to assess what Greece is doing for roughly 22,000 refugee and migrant children trapped in the country.

Talking to the ANA-MPA, Poirier related an incident that occurred when she was visiting the refugees staying in Piraeus port, when a 13-year-old boy had come up to her and showed her the multiplication exercises he was doing. "I use my time to practice because I don't want to forget, all these months that I don't go to school. I may have lost my friends and everything in my homeland but I don't want to lose my future as well," the boy had said to her.

She said the first part of the plan concerned an immediate educational action at accommodation centres, starting with those that have the greatest number of children, such as that in Skaramangas. Poirier said the ministry was starting to build up records of how many children were in each camp, as well as their ages and educational needs.

The first stage of the plan will span educational facilities for very young children, organising child-friendly spaces and recreational activities for them, and then to give emphasis to teens, who need to learn a new set of "life skills" - such as cultural values, relations between the sexes and other issues of daily life in Greece - and join vocational training programmes. For young children, in particular, she noted that it was "very important to recreate a sense of normality... so they can again be children instead of refugees."

In addition to the education ministry, Poirier said that UNICEF was collaborating with the Migration Policy Ministry and the Social Solidarity Ministry to provide protection to unaccompanied children and teens, as well as the health ministry on an immunisation programme.

Poirier said that a learning package will be set up, starting with the younger age groups, that is in the children's native language and in English, so children later relocated to other European countries can be integrated into the system there. This will involve training for teachers - the third part of the short-term educational plan – supplying them with material collected by UNICEF from the countries of origin and destination of the refugees, Poirier said.

This ultimately aimed to create the conditions for the second stage of the programme, which was the integration of the children. Poirier estimated that this will begin in the autumn, by which time "we will have a clearer picture about who will stay and who will leave for other countries." She said that the integration of the children would take place by placing them in Greek schools.

"It is very important for me that the Greek side is already thinking very strategically about both sides of the approach; the immediate humanitarian action and the medium-term work to prepare those that will remain for a smooth transition into Greek society," Poirier commented.

With respect to unaccompanied minors, she noted that UNICEF and various Greek ministries were discussing optimal solutions in line with international standards. "We must properly identify them, record them and help Greek institutions concerned with establishing their status how to examine what is best for each child. We would like to help with developing qualitative and efficient standards," Poirier said.

She said that new standards and ideas would be drawn up, in collaboration with social workers and public prosecutors, including the care of the children in families or family-like homes, outside of institutions. Another of the issues raised by UNICEF on an international level was that of reuniting the families of these children and broadening the definition of family, which is currently restricted to the father or mother.

"However, in many cultures, families include other relatives. We must, therefore, see family reunification in the context of a broader definition of family," she clarified.

Poirier also emphasised the issue of vaccinations and UNICEF's concern that a large number of children has not had a normal life due to the population movements, not going to school and not getting vaccines. "These children have a sort of life in parentheses," she noted, adding that UNICEF will also give guidelines for protecting breastfeeding.

Asked about Greece's response to the refugee crisis, Poirier admitted there were "shortcomings and problems," such as reception centres that did not provide the necessary services and incomplete implementation of the law.

"Yes, there are cases where unaccompanied children, chiefly on the islands, are kept in closed centres. Our approach, however, is to come and propose what must be done to improve the situation," she said. She noted, however, that there was recognition on the government's side that things were not as they should be so she felt reassured.

"Greece did not say to me that all is well, it said that this is what we can do for now, help us do better," she added, while expressing admiration for the "immense generosity and solidarity that Greece, as a country, has shown refugees" in spite of its own economic problems.

Commenting on the EU-Turkey agreement, Poirier said its "strategic intention to bring order" was a good idea and noted that there must be a European approach to mass flows of people. She stressed, however, that emergencies should not lead to the non-fulfilment of humanitarian standards.

"The European Union was created on the basis of common values, not just a market," she said, such as those of human rights and solidarity. When the agreement was interpreted as leading to the return of people to Turkey, UNICEF had therefore warned that human rights must be respected and that to hold a person for being a refugee could not be justified, since escaping war and insecurity was not a crime. She also noted that such distinctions should not apply to children.

"A child is always a child, whether we are talking about refugees or migrants. Every child has a right to an individualised process to determine his or her status, which will find what is best for [the child]," Poirier said.

[02] Greece included for the first time in annual 'Wiki Loves Earth' photo contest

The contest is organised worldwide by the Wikipedia community members with the help of local Wikimedia affiliates across the globe. Participants, professional photographers or amateurs, take pictures in their countries of local natural heritage and scenic landscape and upload them to Wikimedia Commons. These pictures will be under a free license and available to anyone who wants to use them as long as they cite the photographer and the source of the picture.

Those who want to participate in the Greek contest, they will first have to register with the Wikipedia Commons and then choose among the "Natura 2000" regions in Greece included in the list of regions to be covered.

The contest has already started and will end on June 15. For more information click on the Wikimedia link http://wle.wikimedia.gr/.

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