Dear friends of NAOMI Thessaloniki
We are living in difficult times. It is becoming increasingly risky for persecuted people and people from crisis regions to flee. In future, their rights to asylum and human rights will be deliberately restricted in Europe as part of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). EU funds are mainly used for defence and deterrence (e.g. in high-tech security camps) while there is a lack of integration measures such as language courses, job placement and housing.
“Who takes responsibility for the disastrous social consequences of this policy? We are talking about the dangers of ghettoisation, drug use and radicalisation. All the conditions here on the ground (in Greece) promote these problems and thus successively prevent peaceful coexistence and good integration in the future. How are people who are humiliated like this as soon as they enter Europe supposed to build trust in us, the Europeans?”
(Doro Blancke https://doroblancke.at/bericht-aus-lesbos-und-athen/)
At NAOMI, we stand up for a dignified life for all. And in our work, we experience how women and men fight with the greatest effort to stay safe and free. It is these women and men who give us the drive and strength for our daily work. Human rights are our compass.
While aid organisations in Thessaloniki are closing down and others are having to reduce their work, we want to continue and improve our work. NAOMI's goal is and remains the integration of refugees in Greece. In doing so, we also want to protect our beneficiaries from a dangerous onward journey to the north and prevent secondary migration.
