“When we open our arms, we make the world a better place.” With this phrase, Fr. Panteleimon Papasynefakis, General Director of “SYNYPARXIS-Ecumenical Refugee Program”, the civil non-profit company of the Church of Greece, began the interview on makthes.gr about the shelters, actions and work of AMKE which from 2019 until today in its five shelters (one in Thessaloniki and four in Athens) it hosts unaccompanied refugee children found in Greece.
Below you can read excerpts from the interview:
Gen. Director: From 2012 to 2019, alongside the rest of the actions, we managed to get thousands of refugees to leave Greece and reunite with their families. In 2019, we responded to the invitation of the Greek government. Our philosophy is not simply to accommodate the children, providing hotel services, but with parallel actions to provide them with their inclusion in the Greek and at the same time in the European society.
Makthes.gr: What is the current situation with the refugee-immigrant issue?
Gen. Director: Flows have decreased. However, there are still unaccompanied people today. What needs to be understood is that even if the parents are alive wanting to ensure a better future for their children, they are driving them away. So the largest number of those entering the country are unaccompanied minors and women. Refugee flows are an ever-changing situation. When Syria calms down, there are other areas of the planet that will have a refugee problem. Population movements never stop. The refugee flows will not continue. The war in Ukraine showed that they can be created in every corner of the planet. We open our arms to make the world a better place. All children placed in our shelters are rescued from something, such as shipwrecks at sea.
Makthes.gr: How much have the latest developments that have come to light affected donors?
Gen. Director: When such events are created, it certainly affects those who want to offer. We invite those who want to donate to come, watch our project and work from up close, get to know us and then if they have the opportunity, to support the effort of these children to build their lives. There are specific modes of operation and protocols that ensure security within the “SYNYPARXIS” shelters. We need to build the processes by which children will live safely, enjoy what they should enjoy and be treated as people who have not only obligations but also rights. Thus, “SYNYPARXIS” has taken care to create such protocols.
Gen. Director: In our shelters, children learn Greek, go to school, develop extracurricular activities, participate in workshops, visit museums, cultural and art spaces, have contact with local communities. We give them all the necessary supplies to develop their talents. These children came here not because they chose to. For him, the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Hieronymos, the executives and workers of the “SYNYPARXIS” shelters, there is no greater satisfaction when children who have been accommodated in our shelters in the past, have moved on with their lives in Greece and abroad and still communicate with us due to interest. Our faith, the teaching of our Christ, does not exhort us from the simple things but gives us the direction of helping these children so that they can build their lives.
For the entire interview, click HERE.
