When I arrived in Athens on 22 June, the special section of the International New York Times for Greece and Cyprus, Kathimerini, ran the story pictured below. I noticed the article because the Greek paper from which it was copied was established in 1919, the same year the Institute was founded and the world began its plunge into isolationism.
It is back. The people with whom I spoke the morning of 24 June told me they understood how island nations behave. As one put it, “We insular people always want independence. Even if it is no good.” Another said that “the success of the [United Kingdom] Leave campaign will cause many here to wish we could, too.” The result of the United Kingdom’s referendum on European Union membership could cause Scotland to vote again on leaving the United Kingdom; the majority of people in Scotland wanted to remain in the EU. And, in turn, this unraveling could fuel pressures from other regions to again explore secession. After all, Europe before we knew it as such was an admixture of hundreds of city states and principalities. So there is precedent. However, isolation is not what made Greece one of the great revered civilizations of the ancient world. It was the exchange of good and ideas among several different groups of people that promoted flourishing art and intellectual pursuits.
One of my reasons for visiting Greece was to present on a panel, “Inequality, Poverty, Unemployment and Education in the Balkans and Mediterranean,” at the fifth annual Stavros Niarchos Foundation International Philanthropy Conference, which focus on the critical issues currently facing the Mediterranean. For the first time, the conference was held outside Athens in Thessaloniki. As Thessaloniki’s Mayor, Yiannis Boutaris, said there was good reason. “Throughout history, this was a city that embraced strangers, welcomed migrants, and offered unity in a sea of different people and cultures.” Geography helps. Since antiquity, Thessaloniki’s location facilitated trade between empires (Rome and Byzantium) and across a broad and diverse region (the Balkans). Its status as a free state in the Roman Empire (from 42 BC on) allowed its government autonomy to keep its doors open.
Today, Greece is facing two crises – its economic crisis and the global migrant crisis. Since 2011, the Greek GDP has fallen 25%, and the unemployment rate has risen to nearly 26%, according to Eurostat. Shortly before my arrival in Greece, the European Stability Mechanism made another payment of 7.5 billion Euros (approximately $8.4 billion) for Greece, helping the country avert a financial crisis. It’s rare to hear the word compassion in a conversation about a financial crisis. Yet, to a degree, it’s compassion that allows Greece to avoid the crisis. The same compassion should drive the global community, especially European countries and organizations, to take action to provide safe harbor to people fleeing for their lives.
As more refugees from around the world continue to arrive in Europe, countries in the Mediterranean closest to the refugees’ countries of origin face significant challenges. Among them, Greece is under a heavy burden of being a temporary haven for hundreds of thousands of people who do not know if they can stay or where they would go. More than 850,000 refugees arrived in Greece in 2015. In addition, more than 150,000 refugees have arrived in Greece thus far in 2016. As more people arrive, more submit asylum applications. In May 2016, 4,228 applied for asylum, compared to 1,146 that applied in May 2015, according to the UNHCR. Because of this status ― or really lack of status ― government aid is very limited and it is the Greek people that have stepped up. Mayor Yiannis Boutaris urged more people across the region to “stop living all locked up inside our own countries and look to our past when we embraced strangers as a model for building a better future.”
Greece is making some progress. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that 15,500 applicants have been granted asylum, which will legalize their stay in Greece and provide reliable access to critical services. The UNHCR continues to work with Greek government agencies and NGOs, such as the Greek Asylum Service. But everyone and any sector – including educators and philanthropists – can play a part in responding to the refugee crisis.
Education is a key contributor to any country’s GDP, and empowers individuals to be upwardly mobile. Consider that more than 60,000 of the refugees who arrived to Greece this year so far are children. As Greece faces both the economic and refugee crisis, it’s important to remember that both the Greek people and newly-arrived displaced persons will need access to quality education in order to contribute to society in a productive way.
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation is taking action to invest in the human capital of Greece. IIE has partnered with the foundation to strengthen Greece’s higher education system. We’re incentivizing scholars of Greek origin to return home with visiting fellowships to help Greek universities expand their bodies of research and critical connections with higher education institutions in other countries. That’s one way to invest, long-term, into the economy, and more importantly, all people on the shores of Greece.