Securing more than survival

Greece | Securing more than survival

Greece / Crisis & war zones

It is up to the authorities to decide who is entitled to come to Europe. It is in our interest to grant temporary protection and humanity to homeless people stranded in Greece, pending their possible return to their countries of origin: Through material survival assistance and temporary shelter for those especially in need of protection.

Initial situation and challenges

Geographically, a central transit route of refugees and migrants leads through Greece. Thousands of desperate people are stranded in a sobering reality, hoping for a better life in Greece: disregard for rights, racist attacks, homelessness, human trafficking, rape. State structures are limited, and the most necessary are lacking. Meanwhile, about 40,000 migrants from Syria, Iran and Afghanistan live in and around Athens.

Important facts
- Capital
- Athens
- Area
- 131 957 km2
- Inhabitants
- 10,7 millions
- Life expectancy
- 80,7 years
- Child mortality rate
- 4,6 (per 1000)
- Literacy
- 97,7%
- Religion
- 98% Greek Orthodox
- 1,3% Muslims
- 0,7% Others

Capital
Athens
Area
131 957 km2
Inhabitants
10,7 millions
Life expectancy
80,7 years
Child mortality rate
4,6 (per 1000)
Literacy
97,7%
Religion
98% Greek Orthodox
1,3% Muslims
0,7% Others

Aims

Refugees receive temporary survival aid and protection and encouragement to hope.

The project centre in Athens ...

provides material survival assistance
offers course offerings for integration/reintegration purposes

"A bomb destroyed my house and wiped out most of my family. I sit here at night, cold with my two little boys on a sidewalk. No money, no food, no bed, no roof over my head. I'm disappointed, I thought Europe could help me."

A Syrian father we picked up from the street, late in the evening in the middle of Athens. Immediately afterwards he got a room for himself and the children, as well as food and new clothes. After a few weeks he moved on to Germany.

Commitment

Material survival aid

Two years ago, we were still working closely in Greece with the port authorities, who regularly asked us for assistance with the initial care of new arrivals. In our contact point AVC Hellas, we provide refugees and migrants - mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iran - with meals and the most basic necessities. This includes, for example, aid bags with hygiene articles, clothes, shoes and blankets. Two to three times a week in the heart of Athens, there is food for up to 250 adults and 50-80 children in our refugee centre.

In addition, every second week a team travels about an hour outside Athens to two refugee camps, neglected by the state. About 500 Kurds from Syria, Turkey, Northern Iraq and Iran live there from hand to mouth. Without the help of AVC and some sporadically appearing small NGO's the people in these camps could hardly survive.

Integration and Reintegration

In addition to food distribution and clothing distribution, assistance in Greece also includes psychological care and trauma management, medical and dental treatment, sewing and language courses, as well as Saturday children's programmes. The various offered courses convey the basics and new perspectives: Sewing courses enable women to earn a future income, language courses facilitate understanding and integration, computer courses lay a modest foundation for possible integration into the world of work and crochet courses pass the time.

Aid transports

AVC humanitarian aid has already carried out several transports of aid to Greece for the benefit of refugees and migrants. Besides clothes, blankets, beds and towels, we sent an industrial kitchen to a Yazidi camp about an hour outside of Thessaloniki, in order to facilitate the nutrition of the refugees.

For more than six years now, AVC, together with countless volunteers, has taken care of thousands of migrants.