A secondary school English class – lessons are as much about academic education as about sharing culture and creating a safe space to learn.Refugee Education Chios. All rights reserved. Amid freezing temperatures in Europe’s hotspots, refugees fleeing from some of the most dangerous places on earth still encounter political stagnation and the threat of forcible returns after harrowing journeys across land and sea. Young people have been forced into adulthood, leaving their education in a state of limbo. But one NGO has set out to restore the childhood of these forgotten victims so they have some relief from the horrors at home.
The human reality
The small Greek island of Chios, once famous for its production of mastic resin, is now notable instead for hosting refugees. 2,300 men and women, including 700 children live on the island, in dire conditions in the camps, ring fenced with barbed wire. The demographic is overwhelmingly male and mainly comprised of Syrians, Afghans and Kurds. Statistics such as these often give bystanders a snapshot of a crisis, but essentially reduce adults and children to abstract images and data, dismissing the human reality of these young people.
