Αrticles
7000 Refugees on Lesvos
News released by UNHCR Greece, concerning the island of Lesvos: at 24th March 2019, over 7,000 migrants and refugees reside on Lesvos. The majority are from Afghanistan (80%), Iraq (5%) and Sirya (4%). One on three is a man aged between 18 and 39. Among these, 4,900 are hosted in Moria camp and 1,275 in Kara Tepe. UNHCR, as many other international organizations, is constantly monitoring the situation. See more.
EU-Turkey deal: 12,000 people transferred in 2018
https://refugeeobservatory.aegean.gr/en/eu-turkey-deal-12000-people-transferred-2018
SCIREA publiched the article ‘A descriptive study of the Schooling and Higher Education reforms to respond to the refugee’s fluxes in Greece’
This article critically examines the adaptation of the Greek schooling system and the planning of the higher education sector of Greece to accept and integrate refugees through the case study of the University of the Aegean (UAeg). It is a study published to the Social Sciences Journal of MDPI (https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/8/3/72).
Events
Scirea present in the 'Nuit des idees'
SCIREA coordinator O. Tzoraki presented SCIREA project during the round table discussions about "living together" and protecting the environment in the "Nuit des idees" of the French Institute, taking place at 29/01/2020, in Mytilene.
http://www.ifa.gr/el/arts-et-culture/nuit-lenteur-el/8817-nuit-des-idees-mytilene-el
Vittorio Veneto, Italy 26.10.2019
Vittorio Veneto, Italy. On Saturday 26th October Fondazione Leone Moressa will take part (presentation) to a regional training course on migration issues. The main topics will be: refugees and asylum seekers in Italy and Europe; the impact of migration in the hosting countries; SCIREA project case study.
Read more on FLM site http://www.fondazioneleonemoressa.org/2019/10/22/seminario-sulle-migrazioni/
Meeting with the Special Secretary of the Municipality of Tilos
As part of the dissemination and communication activities of the European project “Science4Refugees in Aegean Archipelago (SCIREA)”, members of the research team of the University of the Aegean arranged a meeting on Thursday, July 12, with Mr. Kontos, Special Secretary of the Municipality of Tilos (photo). The purpose of this meeting was to inform the Municipality of Tilos about the SCIREA project, the main objectives of which are: a) recording the educational needs of people of high educational background living in refugee structures in the Aegean islands, and b) organizing special seminars for these people in order to enrich their skills with a final goal to promote them in the local, national or even European labor market. At the same time, the program organizes 25 months of Fellowships for experienced refugee researchers allowing them to conduct a small-scale research in each scholar’s subject area.
The identification and recording of the educational needs of refugees were performed through quantitative research on secondary education graduates in refugee structures on the island of Lesvos. The above-mentioned survey showed that 70.7% of the respondents had a university status. Of these, 40.4% were graduates, of which only 7.1% hold a master’s degree. Moreover, the research showed that the respondents’ field of study varied from science and computer science to medical and life sciences. However, the majority of participants preferred to attend seminars on IT skills and programming. For this reason, training courses on learning various computer software, such as EXCEL, SPSS, ARCGIS, were held at the University of the Aegean. More than 100 refugees and asylum seekers participated into these seminars. In addition, it should be noted that for those who did not hold a university degree, seminars on the creation and management of e-mails, the writing of a CV, and the basic functions of EXCEL, as well as courses of basic English and German were also carried out.
At this point, it should be mentioned that the Municipality of Tilos also implements a project for refugees with the title “Provision of Housing and Services to Asylum Seekers and Beneficiaries of International Protection in Tilos”. Through this project, the Municipality of Tilos, in collaboration with UNHCR, seeks to “adopt” five refugee families in order to give them the opportunity to learn Greek and provide them with housing and care with the ultimate goal of integrating these people into the local labor market. More specifically, the opportunity of employment in the agricultural sector, i.e. in a cheese diary, is provided. The above action constitutes an innovative process on national level regarding the integration of refugees into the local labor market and, at the same time, stimulates its future implementation in other areas taking into account the special characteristics of each region (e.g. permanent population, housing infrastructure, labor force, etc.).
Training on Basic Excel Skills (3)
The seminar took place in Mytilene from 25 to 30 July 2019 in the premises of the One Happy Family center (News Release).
Training on GIS Mapping and Spatial Data Analysis
The seminar took place in Mytilene from 10 to 13 July 2019 in the premises of the University of the Aegean (News Release).
Training on Intermediate/Advanced Excel Skills
The seminar took place in Mytilene from 1 to 4 July 2019 in the premises of the University of the Aegean (News Release).
Training on Basic Excel Skills (2)
The seminar took place in Mytilene from 25 to 29 June 2019 in the premises of the University of the Aegean (News Release).
Training on Basic Excel Skills (1)
The seminar took place in Mytilene from 12 to 18 June 2019 in the premises of the University of the Aegean (News Release).
SCIREA scolar presents his scientific results about e-waste in international conference
The refugee scientist Abas HAIDARI, scholar of SCIREA project presents the first findings (extended abstract) of his work at the conference :
Environmental Science, Policy & Management
Mytilene, Lesvos island, Greece, June 01, 2019
His presentation has the title: Market opportunities (Benefits) of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling industry: a case study of Aegean Recycling S.A. in Moria, Greece .
Authors: Haidari, A., Tzoraki, O., Lasithiotakis, M., Sinioros, P.
The MESPOM Conference in Environmental Science, Policy and Management 2019, is held at the University of the Aegean premises on the island of Lesvos, on June 01, 2019. The Conference is open to the public. You may check the programme here.
SCIREA collaborator Ass Professor Vasillis Gavalas presented his new book on Friday, May 24th at 20:00 at Bookstore & Art
Training in basic statistical techniques with the use of SPSS
Meeting with local entrepreneurs
Last 6th March 2019 FLM visited the business association Confartigianato Treviso and met a group of 20 entrepreneurs associated with. During the meeting, SCIREA project was presented as a concrete practice of integration for migrants. Participants discussed about migration issues and about the potential role of entrepreneurs. See the presentation (Italian).
Scirea informs the director of the Hospitality Center For Refugees And Migrants MAVROVOUNI 'KARA TEPE' about its activities, Mytilene 14-03-2019
Meeting of the SCIREA project coordinator Rania Tzoraki with the director of the Hospitality Center For Refugees And Migrants Mavrovouni ‘Kara Tepe’ Stavros Myrogiannis (photo ), inside the camp at 14-03-2019.SCIREA informed Mavrovouni ‘Kara Tepe’ director about the activities and the outputs of the project and discussed common activities and potential future collaboration.
More info about the Mavrovouni ‘Kara Tepe’ Hospitality Center at:
Koutsellis E. Panagiotis
Site Management Secretary
Hospitality Center For Refugees And Migrants
MAVROVOUNI "KARA TEPE"
By The Municipality Of Lesvos
Mytilini - Lesvos Island - Greece
Tel.:+30 22510 37100
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Scirea project meets 'Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB)' orgnization, Mytilene 14-03-2019
Meeting of the SCIREA project coordinator Rania Tzoraki with the advisor of ‘Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB)’ organization Advisor Jess Lynch (photo ), in Mytilene 14-03-2019. By linking skilled refugees with countries and companies that need their skills, TBB is Expanding labor mobility for refugees to rebuild their lives while boosting the global economy. In collaboration with governments and partners around the world, TBB is identifying and overcoming the barriers that have kept refugees from rebuilding their lives and careers through international employment.
14.03.2019 Data about Asylum in the Eu Member States in 2018
580,800 first-time asylum seekers registered in 2018, down by 11% compared with 2017. Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis continued to be the top citizenships. Greece received 64,975 first-time requests, the 11.2% on EU total. Read more on Eurostat
Educated refugees meet University of the Aegean Professors on 27 February 2019
Today, 27th of February, a number of Educated refugees and two volunteers from ‘one happy family’ in Lesvos met with Prof Ourania Tzoraki and prof Vasilis Gavalas to get a better view of how to draw their educational and professional future; and the two volunteers (Tillman and Melanie) said they are happy to visit University of Aegean and they wished it could be an emotional support for those educated refugees as well. Aegean university professors said they are happy to see these refugees and they explained about different projects; such as BRIDGEII and SCIREA. Educated Refugees said that they hope by enhancing the knowledge and skills that they already have with help of academics in Aegean university they can start a new life without fear. After starting the project SCIREA many refugees would like to use the opportunities to continue their studies or finding jobs.
Study day for SMEs on 24 November 2018
Ponzano Veneto, Treviso
FLM was invited by a local business association (CGIA Mestre) to present the case study concerning the inclusion of refugees in Greek islands. The audit included about 45 entrepreneurs running SMEs. FLM presented SCIREA project, goals and activities. This topic is particularly interesting for an audit of entrepreneurs, that can play a role in the process of integration of migrants and refugees.
SCIREA project participated in the final conference ‘Migration flows and integration policies: data evidence and best practices in the EU on 22-23 November 2018’
SCIREA participated in the Interact-ESPON Conference on ‘migration flows and integration policies’ the held in Athens, November 22-23, 2018.
This joint ESPON / Interact conference over two days will focus on migratory flows and integration and will shed light on the distribution of asylum seekers and refugees at regional and urban levels and how has this been changing over time as a result of European and national policy decisions in recent decades. This analysis will show how different European regions and cities located in arrival, transit and destination countries are responding to the refugee crisis in terms of providing humanitarian aid, services, community building, internal distribution of refugees and medium and long-term integration.
The conference will also examine the skills and qualifications that refugees possess and how does the influx of refugees impact the recipient countries’ regional and local labour markets and demographic imbalances. The Conference will explore the main challenges and identify good policy responses and the best practices for successful integration of refugees into the local communities, societies and labour markets at regional and local levels. It will indicate the kind of support they need and evaluate the success of previous integration measures and how to improve the use of existing funding opportunities such as Cohesion Policy and Interreg projects.
ESPON and Interact therefore consider this joint conference as a means of both informing participants of the state of the art of current research and empirical knowledge and to take advantage of the current knowledge of third-sector organisations and practitioners to better focus the relevance of interventions and projects on the ground.
Target groups:
National policy makers and practitioners, authorities implementing ESIF programmes, regional and local policymakers, university academics and scientists, private sector, national, regional and local media and other knowledge multipliers. Stakeholders involved in cross-border and transnational cooperation (under the European Territorial Cooperation goal for Regional and Urban Policy) and European networks, such as: European Migration Network (EMN); Mediterranean Migration Observatory; European Network of Migrant Women; initiatives launched in the framework of last year EU calls on migrant entrepreneurship, European Migrant Entrepreneurship Network. Members of Committee of the Regions international cooperation initiatives: ARLEM (Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly) and CORLEAP (Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership). European Economic and Social Committee members and members of the Urban agenda for the EU – Inclusion of migrants and refugees. Adriatic-Ionian and Danube macro-regions and their respective strategies, EUSAIR and EUSDR, as the areas targeted by the new ESPON targeted analysis ‘Territorial and Urban Potentials Connected to Migration and Refugee Flow’, and the stakeholders involved in the analysis.
Presentation of the 2018 report on the economics of migration - 20 November 2018
University of Venice, Venue of Treviso
FLM was invited by the University of Venice to present the annual report on the economics of migration to an audit of about 30 students interested in migration, economics and sociology. Within this event, FLM presented the case study concerning the inclusion of refugees in Greek islands. FLM presented SCIREA project, goals and activities
Nantional meeting of refugees shelters on 25 October 2018
CNCA (National Confederation of refugees shelters) in Bassano del Grappa, Veneto.
FLM was invited by CNCA to talk about the economics of migration to an audit of about 50 social workers and educators. Within this event, FLM presented the case study concerning the inclusion of refugees in Greek islands. FLM presented SCIREA project, goals and activities.
SCIREA project participated in the final conference of the Erasmus + inHERE project held in Brussels on 19 September 2018.
SCIREA participated in the final conference of the the Erasmus+ inHERE project , which aims to facilitate the integration and access of refugees to European higher education institutions, held in Brussels, September 19, 2018.
This event allowed participants to present the results of the project:
- the catalog of good practices
- the guidelines for university staff ( Guidelines )
- the recommendations made by the participants in the various inHERE activities.
The conference brought together over 70 people, representing branches of the European Commission, the institutions European higher education and international organizations such as UNHCR.
All participants were able to read the project's recommendations distributed at the event, which were also presented in detail at a plenary session. They themselves have been able to enrich the document with complementary proposals made during parallel workshops.
During the event, 15 initiatives dedicated to refugee students and researchers were also presented, including the HOPES project , funded by the European Union via the Madad Fund, and of which Campus France is a partner.
The inHERE project is coordinated by UNIMED ( Mediterranean Universities Union ), alongside Campus France, the European University Association (EUA ), the University of Barcelona, La Sapienza University in Rome and the United Nations High Commissioner (UNHCR) for Refugees , associate partner).
