AUTHOR: MARIA CHRONOPOULOU | PHOTOGRAPHY: VASILIS KOUROUPIS
– To begin with, I would like to ask you, how did you come up with the idea of METAdrasi?
– I had been working for several years in the field of refugees, for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the National Youth Foundation. I often saw gaps that were not being covered by anyone. I kept asking, why are there no escorts for the unaccompanied minors? Why do children have to stay in holding cells? There was no one to take the children and to transfer them to a safe place. The response I received was usually either, “It’s not possible” or “It’s not possible, the risk is really high”. In general, I believe that there are some ideas that we have in life, those that we believe in, that we should try everything we can to realize them—because life is short and we should not regret that there were things that we wanted to do and we didn’t. So, at some point, I gave up everything and I said I would start this organization.
– When was METAdrasi established?
– The statute for METAdrasi was agreed in December 2009 and we actually started work in the middle of 2010.
– How did you find the space?
– A member donated his empty apartment so that we did not have to pay rent. We then found some office furniture on the street that had been left there by a company that had closed down. This is how we started, with a lot of hard work.
– When you started were you alone or did you have other people with you?
– I gathered some people I knew and trusted who either worked in the field of human rights or people who I knew were honest and had a sense of duty. From that moment on, we attached great importance to the staff of the organization. Our first executives were young unemployed people who flourished here.
– Was it easy to find the initial resources to get started?
– It was not very easy. We mainly developed with the help of European resources. It is important to mention that we were lucky because we started at a time when the UNHCR had decided for the first time to have a permanent presence on the frontiers of Greece, so interpreters were needed. We had just created our interpretation programme and started running the first seminars. So, in mid-2010, the first interpreters were certified. Thus, the creation of our interpretation programme coincided with the UNHCR need for interpreters with whom they could cooperate.
– How does METAdrasi differ from other organizations?
– First, it focuses on issues that other organizations are not involved in, such as interpreting. The lack of interpreters was a huge problem because, in the past, Greece had been convicted in the European courts of having no interpretation facilities—especially for asylum seekers, for whom it is mandatory. So we thought, why not to try using a civil society organization to show that we can do something right, not only within Greece but also abroad, and so ensure that the country is not criticized. More importantly, this would enable people to speak in their own language and to accept asylum, or not, based on what they are actually saying. Second, introducing the interpreter’s role was of utmost importance because it was a way of fighting against the terrible exploitation that the refugees were facing.
– What other issues do you focus on?
– We focus on unaccompanied minors—children under the age of 18—and those who have either lost their families or their parents have died and they have somehow entered a group alone and arrived in Greece. The law states that from the moment the children are identified and registered at the frontier, the police are responsible for their guardianship until examinations have been conducted and they are able to go to an accommodation centre. However, in Mytilini, in Samos and in Chios there was nowhere for the children to stay. As a consequence, they were placed in detention centres or in places that were called identification centres or special reception areas for migrants. The importance is not in the name but in the fact that these are closed centres with railings. The children were placed there and they had to wait but there was no one to take them to an accommodation centre. As a result, the children were effectively kept in holding cells for several months.
– How do you deal with the problem of unaccompanied minors?
– In Orestiada, in 2011, we began by creating a pilot team that was responsible for receiving these children. Within two months the police departments from all over Greece were calling us to take the children and to transfer them to an accommodation centre. This resulted in the judicial officers (prosecutors) behaving more calmly because they were now able to decide on the fate of the children. There was a huge gap before we created METAdrasi. We pinpointed the problem and we said, “We have to find a solution”. There is no problem that doesn’t have a solution.
– In what areas do you think METAdrasi have become pioneers?
– In the teleconference system, which is pioneering all over Europe. This system makes it possible for the interpretation to take place at the country’s borders, the islands or at several entry points, whereas formerly, this was very difficult and costly. We have initiated teleconferences and, often, when other organisations and authorities from abroad visit us, cannot believe that we, “as Greece”, are doing something that is so consistent and important.
– What are all the areas of work carried out by METAdrasi?
– We train interpreters and provide interpretation services, as well as running the exemplary network for the protection of unaccompanied minors through the procedures mentioned above. In addition, our work includes the protection of vulnerable groups, such as victims of torture, and the provision of educational programmes for children and adults to help them learn the Greek language and allow for their smoother inclusion in society.
– How could someone help you, whether from Greece or from abroad?
– We need volunteers. Since 2011, METAdrasi has been working on the frontiers. We are now located in 30 places in Greece. I emphasize that we really do need help since each of these teams needs an interpreter, a coordinator, legal support and escorts for unaccompanied minors; we need more “hands”.
– I honestly want to thank you very much! I am not sure that people abroad know what is really happening right now in Greece.
– When we work with similar organizations abroad, they are often surprised because they are unable to understand how quickly METAdrasi responds in this era of crisis.
– Why did you return to Greece? As far as I know you had been living in Geneva.
– …To create METAdrasi.
