The 5th Lyceum School-squat is supporting refugees/migrants and the education of their children.

GRATIS AMJAD M AFY

On Tuesday the 22nd of June a public meeting with the participation of refugees was held in the school-squat in Exarheia-Athens to campaign in favour of OPEN ATHENS TO THE MIGRANTS – OPEN ALL THE BUILDINGS – OPEN ALL THE SCHOOLS TO THE CHILDREN OF MIGRANT FAMILIES”. The meeting was attended by members of the doctors’ union, and the union of teachers and artists. A health and education committee was established in order to promote:

1. Support and protection to refugees/migrants in the squats

2. The creation of teams that will lobby in favour of the refugee/migrant children in the Greek public schools.

A number of children will attempt to register in Greek public schools. The 5th Lykeio squat has started moving towards this direction several months ago.

On the 20th of June our collaborator Arci Thomas Sankara Association put in place a performance for the International Refugee Day. At 6.00 pm everyone reached the Main Square of Messina, called Piazza Cairoli. Refugees and volunteers built a symbolic wire-border wall. They attached on it more than 10 different stories describing the lives and journeys of the displaced, reflecting on the concept of ‘borders’ in Europe and the world, and the life and conditions in the camps of Messina. A public discussion followed on the meaning of ‘international refugee day’. The discussion focused on current conditions, push-backs and lost lives in the sea. The public meeting ended with a symbolic destruction of the wire-border. Transitory Lives – Giuliana Sano

This crisis is ultimately not about refugees and migrants. It is a crisis that has come about because of a European Union with human rights policies built on sand. To put it simply, what the world is witnessing is not a refugee crisis facing Europe, but a European crisis facing refugees.

A comment by Bridget Anderson