Title and abstract:

‘An independent documentary about life in a refugee village in Greece: any hope left’. This presentation will focus on the daily life of refugees in two open refugee villages in Greece: Kara Tepe in Lesbos island and Myrsini village in the south Peloponnese. The documentaries are based on interviews with refugees, local community and volunteers and took took place in January 2017. The aim of the documentaries is to get a closer look on what it means to be a refugee and if there is any interaction with the local community also to reflect on how we could make refugees living conditions more humane in Greece.

Bio:

Christina Velentza is a Visiting Research Fellow in MiReKoc, Koc University working on refugees and forced migration, Istanbul. Christina Velentza is a policy advisor and an attorney at law with the Athens Bar Association. Christina was an Academy Stavros Niarchos Foundation fellow with the International Law and Europe Programme, Chatham House, London (2015-16). She has worked for the Greek Asylum Service (Ministry of Interior) in partnership with UNHCR on assessment of claims for international protection. She has previously worked for the EEAS, Legal Service in the General Secretariat of the EU Council and NGOs in the field of human rights. She has conducted field work on refugees, minorities and gender-based violence and worked in different research projects (ELIAMEP, Oxford Refugee Studies Center, NGOs). Her research interests are International and European law, migration, internal displacement and she is currently researching the cooperation between Greece and Turkey through the Syrian refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. Christina is a PhD candidate in international refugee law (Democritus University of Thrace,  Greek State Foundation Scholar), holds her MA in European Studies (Law) from the University of Strasbourg and her BA in Law from the Democritus University of Komotini, Greece. She is a Research Affiliate with the Refugee Law Initiative, University of London and a Chatham House Member. Find more on her publications here:

https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/christina-velentza

https://rli.sas.ac.uk/about-us/research-affiliates/christina-velentza

https://chathamhouse.academia.edu/CHRISTINAVELENTZA