Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak discuss Sandie’s recent visit to an asylum center in Athens, Greece. They shed light on the challenges for refugees to receive asylum and the continued hardships of integrating into a new culture. They also discuss how asylum seekers are causing challenges for the country itself.

5 myths surrounding asylum are: the refugee crisis is over, we can easily separate refugees from economic migrants, telling human stories is enough to change people’s minds, the crisis is a threat to European values, and history is repeating and there’s nothing we can do about it.

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to subscribe or rate the podcast on iTunes by clicking here. Click here for FAQs about podcasts and how to subscribe.

Haven’t been receiving our newsletter? Visit our homepage to join today.

Contact us with questions, comments, or suggestions at [email protected].

Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 176, Field Trip to the Athens Asylum Center.

Production Credits: [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is David Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. On the last episode we talked about studying the issues in Athens, Greece and we explored some of the big pictures, goals, and outcomes that came out of Sandie’s recent trip there with the Global Center for Women and Justice team. And we talked about student involvement and so many of the takeaways that happened. On this episode, we’re going to zero in on a much more of a micro conversation, Sandie, on one particular piece and one particular experience of being in Greece during that time. And we’re going to really look at in some detail the asylum center that you visited.

Sandie: [00:01:27] I tell you when we arrived at this center and we saw the way the gate is positioned with the kind of metal guides like you were in line to go through security at the airport and it just whines and whines, back and forth. And knowing that refugees show up there at 6 o’clock in the morning waiting for the office to open at 8:00 a.m. trying to get in first. And they have their whole family with the mom, dad, three or four kids and they’re waiting there to get inside. And to begin to understand what that means. And you know, you think about asylum, finding a safe place that you can legally stay. That’s the goal. And so many of the pictures that are emblazoned on our minds from the news reports of boats capsizing and people being pulled out of the water to safety. That’s just the beginning because now they have to figure out how to build a new life, and they need to build it in a safe place.

Dave: [00:02:45] I have so many things I’m curious about the experience and the experience of the center, Sandie. I’m curious first, and I know there’s not an easy answer to this question, but who are the refugees who show up in this line. Where do they come from? What’s their story to the extent that you know?

Sandie: [00:03:03] Well, in that part of the world, the majority of the refugees that we met and encountered were from conflict areas in Syria. Some were escaping for some of the other issues that are related to how you seek asylum for religious persecution. We met asylum seekers from Iran, from northern Iraq Kurdish areas, from Syria, and from Turkey, but they all had the same goal in mind. We want to be in a place where we are safe and our children have a future.

Dave: [00:03:43] So a lot of what we’ve been hearing on the news in the last few years are the conflicts in the Middle East and of course the Syria conflict. You were front and center of the people who have now emerged from that and showed up in Greece seeking that protection.

Sandie: [00:04:02] And here’s the thing that makes Greece a little unique. What I learned from our NGO partners that we were working with, is that refugees that made it further west in Europe are being sent back to their country of entry to the EU, because they didn’t qualify for asylum or for residence. The numbers were cut off in countries like Germany and Norway and so on. And so, the country they entered in with a boat falling apart, was Greece. And so, they’re coming back and now they’re starting the process again there. So even though people say well the crisis is over, right? Greece is a country of 11 million people. About five million are of the age where they’re working and unemployment is about 30 percent.

Dave: [00:05:06] Wow.

Sandie: [00:05:07] So you have an economically stretched country that just is emerging from austerity measures that we also followed and they are the ones tasked with receiving hundreds and thousands of these refugees. And you know, once you come in, they took us in just like we were refugees, they brought us in. And once you get through the front gate, then you’re in this big holding area. We stopped and we took some pictures, and you start thinking about why you’re here. And there’s a little area for children to play, and there’s a little center where you can draw pictures. And I’m looking at the pictures, and I’m going to give it to Andrew and see if he can’t post it somehow on our page. But one 14-year-old girl and this was the story told to me, drew this picture. It was very simple black and white, and it was one arm clasping another arm. So, my hand around your elbow, and your hand around my elbow. But I can’t see you because you’re underwater, but I’m pulling you up. And so, when you’re at the border in one of these landlocked countries and you close the door, they can’t get in, but they’re still standing on dry land. In Greece, what are you going to do, throw them back into the sea? So, this con...