Greece (MNN) — As recently as
four months ago, Greece was the fast track to Europe for the refugees
fleeing ISIS and war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Now, it’s become a
sort of grim holding pen.
(Screenshot courtesy of AMG International)
After the European Union’s http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/19/world/europe/european-uni& #111;n-turkey-refugees-migrants.html?action=click&a mp;contentCollection=Europe&module=Related Coverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=artic le - migrant agreement with Turkey took hold, there’s been a definite lessening of refugees coming to Greece over the Aegean Sea. Under the deal, refugees who take illegal routes to Greece from Turkey are being sent back.
There was significant push-back on
the agreement from humanitarian groups, but the deal hoped to stop gangs
of people-smugglers from continuing to traffick migrants in rickety
boats such as dinghies across dangerous waters. Such treacherous
crossings led to hundreds of deaths due to drowning and hypothermia.
Agreement Results
Since the EU-Turkey agreement was
enacted, the number of migrant deaths in the Aegean Sea have dropped to
very few, and by the end of June, the http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2016/06/28/not-a-singl e-refugee-has-died-in-aegean-sea-for-past-100-days-146705426 8 - Turkish Coast Guard reported 100 days without a single death .
Tasos Ioannidis, President and CEO of https://www.mnnonline.org/mission_groups/amg-inter national/ - AMG International ,
shares, “The number of refugees attempting coming to Turkey from Greece
has definitely slowed down since February. Over the last few months
there have been some refugees that have come to Greece from Turkey, but
the number is only a small fraction of what it was earlier. So the
agreement with Turkey appears to be holding for now, although there is a
lot of uncertainty about the future.”
There is still an overwhelming amount of refugees currently in Greece, with http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/country.php?id=83 - official numbers over 56 thousand . Ioannidis observes the government has struggled to keep up, even with the dramatic slowing of migrants in recent months.
“The government has not done a very
good job of managing the refugee crisis. A lot of international
nonprofits [and] NGOs have been involved in providing basic needs for
the refugees, and even after more than a year and a half of this going
on, the government is still not at the place where it can do a good job
with treating or with caring of the refugees that are in the country.”
Economics Stifling More Aid Within Greece
(Map courtesy of Nathan Hughes Hamilton via Flickr)
To be fair, the situation Greece was
facing when crisis started came as a one-two punch. Greece was in a deep
financial struggle that led to the bailout right. Then refugees started
pouring over their borders.
“Greece is in a very bad situation
still economically. The new bailout agreement that Greece signed with
its creditors required that they take a number of steps, and that meant
either in using expenses or increasing taxes. This government has chosen
to really try to increase taxes, and the result has been an even
greater recession. This recession in Greece now has been going on for
seven years and the second half of this year is going to be very
difficult for Greece.”
Greece’s struggling financial
situation has even affected people’s ability to help refugees on an
individual basis. Ioannidis says, “People have reached the point where
they are unable to pay their taxes, there are a lot of businesses that
are closing, they are shutting down. And now those businesses include
some really large corporations in Greece. So it’s a very difficult
economic situation. The government is behind its payments to all the
people it owes, so that’s part of the reason it cannot do much more for
the refugees.”
While the EU-Turkey migrant agreement
has produced results, it seems, there is a need for ongoing, long-term
assistance to those already in the country. “There is still a lot of
basic stuff that is needed — food, clothing, medical care. That is an
ongoing need and it is not going away. So although the situation is not
in the news a lot these days, that need is very much there…. It has
transitioned from a situation where people are transiting through Greece
and it was short-term help that they needed, now they need long-term
help.”
Hope At No Cost
Yet, even in this tragedy, there is
an opportunity to share hope at no cost — the love of the Gospel — with
hurting and needy souls, most of whom are Muslims.
“There are a lot of centers that have
opened up throughout the country and workers from the whole evangelical
community have a regular opportunity to engage with refugees,” says
Ioannidis. “I was there about a month ago and I visited one of those
centers right outside the old airport in Athens. It’s amazing to see
refugees coming every day, and it’s an opportunity to give them some
basic stuff, to provide medical care for them, to help them start to
learn English as a second language. There is so much opportunity.”
Syrian refugees arriving on the Greek island of Lesvos. (Photo and caption courtesy of Operation Mobilization)
In times like these, it’s
understandable why many feel that prayer is a last resort — the thing
people do only when they can’t do anything else. But if the situations
facing refugees are going to be altered and improved through the eternal
hope of Christ and the encouragement of Christ-followers, then prayer
is the best thing you can do.
Ioannidis shares these requests:
“Certainly pray for all the many volunteers who are working to minister
to refugees. Pray for strength for them, for protection, pray that they
will continue to have opportunities. There is so much opportunity to
help people both physically and spiritually. So many doors have opened
to share the love of Christ and God is doing an amazing work among the
refugees there…. Pray for the fiscal needs of the refugees, for the
resources that are needed to provide for those needs because it is a
very expensive effort to do so, and just that God will continue to work
among those lives, and that He will draw people to Him through this
opportunity.”
AMG International and partner organizations http://www.amginternational.org/main/fs/ - continue to work with and encourage refugees with the Great Commission in mind .
“This is a unique opportunity because
we are able to reach people who we otherwise we would never have had
the opportunity to reach. The Lord is bringing the nations to us, and
it’s an opportunity to show God’s love to them.”
Source: http://www.mnnonline.org/ -