Latest news and stories

Greece

Letters from Lesbos

June 19 2020 - "How are you? I am very well! Right now, I am in Greece and I live with my family in the Kara Tepe camp. I only go to school on Tuesdays at noon. My favourite subjects are physics and mathematics. I study hard because I want to finish school and become an astronaut. I am very interested in space. What would you like to become when you grow up?" - Afsane, 11

WORLD REFUGEE DAY

Venezuelan unaccompanied young people’s urge for stability

July 4 2020 - Over four million people have left Venezuela. The UN agency for refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 25,000 unaccompanied children and youth have travelled to neighbouring countries to escape the violence and economic chaos back home.

REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS

A future for Amiri

June 19 2020 - In 2015, Amiri came from Afghanistan to Austria. He was only 14, on foot and all alone. Five years later, he has built a new life in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

OPINION

What do you say if a child asks if you live in a container similar to theirs?

June 18 2020 - Ever since the ‘hotspots’ – or refugee camps - were created on the Greek islands, SOS Children’s Villages Greece has provided support to children and families, with a focus on unaccompanied and separated children. The risk of an outbreak of COVID-19 has led to measures limiting the access to children and young people living in the camps. Popi Gkliva shares her insights on the daily realities which have become the every-day normal for many children.

BOTSWANA

Support and protection for smuggled migrant children in Botswana

June 17 2020 - For four years, Mpho Gakedirelwe, a social worker at SOS Children’s Villages Tlokweng in Botswana, has worked with children smuggled across the border to Botswana. She has heard many disturbing stories of suffering and child rights violations as they journeyed to find their parents who have migrated in desperate need of work and to sustain their livelihood.

WORLD REFUGEE DAY

Every child should be able to dream big

June 17 2020 - It is important that we mark World Refugee Day because people need to realise what others are going through and to stop treating people who are considered refugees badly. Wars, conflicts and other difficulties can destroy a child’s reality today. We can help them to save their future.