In the editorial meetings of our team, that consists of teenagers and young adults of many nationalities, we discuss news stories that have to do with the refugee/migrant issue. Many of us have had to move country, so news like this holds a lot of personal relevance.
We have an emotional crisis every time we hear the phrase “refugee crisis”! Why must our movement on the map be associated with something bad, like a crisis? Why do journalists ask only about our refugee status? It’s as if they want to remind us all the time that we are refugees!
Some of us might be refugees. However, there is more to our identity than being a refugee. Ask us about our lives here! As well as refugees, we are also students, pupils, talented musicians, painters, photographers,poets, good cooks, good friends, siblings.
We are not just refugees. Our newspaper is the proof. And we will keep publishing it until we persuade all of you that we are way more than just refugees. In this issue we write about an upcoming Afghan fashion designer, a book about peace, the need to embrace otherness, ways to handle your anger and the importance of having courage. We select and suggest you dishes from our countries that you should try in restaurants in Athens. We visit the “Secondhand Bookstore run by the Homeless” and we meet the person behind it. But first, we start with a letter to journalists.
P.S. We are deeply concerned by the latest developments involving refugees in Greece. However, we went to press before events at the Greek-Turkish border and the Northeastern Aegean islands turned refugees into pawns in a political game and made them victims of racist attacks. Our newspaper remains a standard-bearer in the fight against these xenophobic tendencies.
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