Europe’s dubious response

Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) Research Fellow, Dr Angeliki Dimitriadi, takes on the current refugee crisis in "ELIAMEP Thesis: Europe’s dubious response to the refugee crisis" (Sep 2015) from its outbreak to its present state and attempts to set current EU responses in a contextual setting, from the early response to the Lampedusa tragedy of 2013 with Task Force Mediterranean, to today’s proposal for the redistribution of 160,000 refugees.

Dimitriadi critically discusses EU Member States’ responses and the resurfacing of ‘Fortress Europe’, and proposes priorities and measures, stressing the need for a global response to the current refugee crisis.

The security dimension

Focusing on the security dimension of the refugee crisis, ELIAMEP Director-General, Thanos Dokos, underlines in the Valdai Discussion Club (25.9.2015) that the international community, and especially the EU, should concentrate its efforts on putting an end to conflicts causing the refugee crisis as soon as possible. A top priority as regards the Syrian civil war is reaching an understanding with Russia through a "big bargain" and recognsing common interests and common threats.

Documenting migratory journeys

 

ELIAMEP is partner to a new research programme, "Crossing the Mediterranean Sea by boat", which aims to document migratory journeys and experiences. The project focuses on three EU island arrival points in Greece, Italy and Malta.

Qualitative interview data, both textual and visual, is produced through an interdisciplinary participatory research approach, exploring issues such as the impact of policy interventions on refugees /migrants and ways in which policy can address deaths at sea.