Category: Refugee Blog

For the past six years, Vassilis Perros’ art has been revolving around movement and travel, symbolized by the ‘suitcase’. Looking at his art, I immediately associated it with migration and displacement. So we got to talking about it as I wondered what drove him to engage with this symbol over and over again. Some of… Continue reading A talk with Vassilis Perros on suitcases and their meaning →

Citizens’ solidarity with refugees has been timely, dynamic, creative, and purposeful. Artists are making documentaries and selling bags made from recycled life vests. People are knitting sweaters, teaching English, setting up wifi hotspots in the camps, and pulling people to safety on the shores of the islands. They are donating baby formula, organizing volunteer logistics,… Continue reading More than grassroots solidarity: The need for action from the top →

If you had to leave your home and flee for your life, what would you take with you? Maria Belivani invites onlookers to consider this question for themselves and write their answers on an interactive art installation in Athens’s Technohoros gallery. Through asking this simple question, Belivani inspires a moment of solidarity and empathy, in… Continue reading What would you take with you? Uprooting/Borders →

This chart from the Center for Global Development shows the number of refugees in each country relative to the per capita economic ‘cushion’ that the country has to absorb them. Clearly, all of Europe together is facing tiny economic shocks compared to Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. When looking at this chart, it is clear that… Continue reading Debatable Burdens →

As Muslims are entering into the holy month of Ramadan, organizations and volunteers working with refugees are adapting accordingly. The NGO Praksis has introduced middle-of-the-night hours for serving food, and Médecins Sans Frontieres has provided its workers with this Ramadan guide:   The guide has received some negative press as some writers ask why Western… Continue reading The Cultural Debate: Integration, Assimilation, or Exclusion →

This March, the European Union and Turkey signed a highly controversial plan to manage the inflow of refugees to Europe. According to the deal, Greece would send every migrant arriving illegally in Greece back to Turkey, and each illegal migrant would be exchanged for a refugee who had been approved through the proper channels. This… Continue reading The EU-Turkey deal on the brink →

I am preparing for a talk at the ESCP in Paris on the “Global Race for Talent”. I am to respond to Professor Amanda Frost’s presentation on the issue which describes how the United States, Europe, Australia, and Canada compete with each other to lure a global elite in business, science, the arts, athletics, and… Continue reading In an age of mass migration, what does a ‘global race for talent’ really mean? →

The classical instrumentalists of the Yale Concert Band are speaking volumes through their music. Last night, we attended the band’s final performance of their tour through Italy and Greece. Maybe it was in the elation of the performers on their last concert in the tour, or in the beautiful interior of the St. George’s church… Continue reading Music for the Resilient →

This Fall’s 71st UN General Assembly in New York City will address the large movements of refugees and migrants. After the climate crisis, increasingly the mass movement of people across land and sea is seen as a major force impacting nations across the globe. According to the UN, there is no sign that these pushes… Continue reading Assuming the Inevitable: Is mass-migration really a given for the future? →

The refugee crisis, the Greek financial crisis, and the media’s rhetoric of panic around these events encourage the perception that Greece is on the edge of total breakdown. Much less coverage is paid to people who are working to provide services to refugees and other integration efforts on the ground. Understanding the challenges of the… Continue reading Day 1 at HIGGS →