In recent years, Greece has been at the receiving end of a large number of refugees of war. The country is trying to offer financial, psychological and moral support to all the victims of the frightful and frightening wars that have been ravaging Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few years. More and more refugees keep coming, all looking for a chance for a new life. But Greece is small and does not have the financial capability to help all those refugees for much longer. These people must really be given the opportunity to go to other European countries for a better future.
Unfortunately, a new wave of refugees arrived in Greece during the first weeks of September, resulting in total panic in the camps and reception centres. As more and more arrive, the security measures at the borders get tighter and tighter. The new prime minister has made it clear that he will deal with the refugee crisis very strictly. For the moment, the situation at the borders remains the same. This is bound to stop at some point, because the more refugees we receive, the closer we get to the collapse of our already bankrupt economy. I really do understand that these people need to find a better future. However, some of them appear to want to take advantage of the financial support offered by Greece and the European Union. Of course, not everyone is like that!
As a “humble” teenager, I would propose to those members of parliament that want to find a solution to this problem not to ignore the situation, but to focus on strengthening the solidarity shown towards refugees. What I mean is that refugees should be offered part-time work in order to earn a living, save some money and be able to leave Greece and go to their original destination of choice.
We Greeks, especially we Greeks, should understand them, because we have been refugees ourselves. For example, in 1922 the Turks forced the Greeks living in Smyrna to leave. Another, more recent, example are the young Greeks who have migrated to other European countries in search of a better future. Refugees just want to live better lives, just as we do, and as the compassionate nation that we are, we ought to help them. We can offer true moral support to refugees, and that’s how we can persuade them that they are not undesirable in our country.
For years, Greece has been a “meeting point” of nations. We now have the opportunity to show the things that other European countries are not famous way: our kindness and compassion.
*This article has been published in issue #15 of “Migratory Birds” newspaper, which was released as an annex with “Efimerida ton Syntakton” newspaper (Newspaper of the Editors), on October 12th 2019.
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