Visual: Spoovio Translation: Gigi Papoulias On Thursday, July 29, 2022, the Greek Parliament's Committee of Institutions and Transparency held a meeting regarding the surveillance of journalists and politicians, following the discovery that there was an attempt to...
Work
Dark Waters of the Aegean: 1,018 illegal pushbacks carried out by the Greek state
Proof read: Gigi Papoulias The recent condemnation of Greece by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for an incident that occured near Farmakonisi in 2014, where eleven asylum seekers died at sea when the boat they were in was forced back to Turkey by a Greek...
No closer to heaven — transgender asylum-seekers in Greece
Visual: Galateia Iatraki Proof read: Gigi Papoulias Whether it’s their ultimate destination or not, many refugees arriving in Greece consider the country a safer place where they can start re-gaining a relatively more normal life. It is not necessarily the case...
Facing 10 years in prison for an act of desperation
Visualization: Spoovio Proof-read: Gigi Papoulias Nasrin didn’t want to give birth inside the camp. After the family was told their transfer to Germany had been accepted, she was hoping she’d be able to travel before giving birth. She was 27 years old, pregnant with...
Serbia: Green waves washing over polluted land
Images: Nikos Pilos Translation: Gigi Papoulias As Miodrag Živković recounts the events surrounding the expropriation of his land by the Zijin company, the unyielding smell of sulfur and ashes invades the nostrils. Slatina, where the 58-year-old's family has lived for...
European Court decision finds 2016 collective pushbacks “lawful”
Illustration: Fanis Kollias A long-awaited decision issued by the European Court of Human Rights on April 5, on a case regarding a violent pushback of approximately 1,500 asylum seekers into Greece via North Macedonia in 2016, has raised concerns for the state of...
Ukraine war: the “real” refugees and the lies of the Greek government
Visual: Fanis Kollias Translation: Gigi Papoulias On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, confirming the most pessimistic scenarios. In the roughly one month since, over 3.3 million citizens have been forced to seek safety outside Ukraine's borders, and roughly...
UNHCR responds to Solomon over Mitarachi’s definition of “real” refugees
Visual: Fanis Kollias Translation: Gigi Papoulias On February 26, 2022, the Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarachi, stated during a TV morning show that the people who were forced to flee Ukraine due to the Russian invasion "are war refugees, they are...
Masafarhána: Inside the invisible refugee houses in Athens
ARTWORK: KYRA SACKS TRANSLATION: GIGI PAPOULIAS After a 30-minute drive from downtown Athens to the northwestern suburbs, the car stops in front of an entrance of a three-story building. There’s a metal door, which prohibits passers-by from seeing the interior...