Refugee education in Greek islands special

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Better Angels Podcast

Sarah Brown talks to experts and refugees about life for refugee children on Lesvos and other Greek islands, as Theirworld publishes a new report on how to ease the education crisis in the Aegean, while coping with the extra threats posed by Covid-19. 


Refugee camps in Greece remain overcrowded and unhygienic beyond imagination, but until Covid-19 struck new education centres were a daily lifeline for children who had fled conflict and persecution, many arriving after perilous journeys from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

This episode provides a glimpse into life in those camps and talks to the team behind Theirworld’s new report that offers a way forward out of the refugee education crisis. Sarah talks to organisations making a difference there, and to two refugees who shed their personal light on what those on the islands are going through.

Sarah talks to Maysa Jalbout, author of the report ‘Finding Solutions to Greece’s Refugee Education Crisis’; Justin van Fleet, president, Theirworld; Abi Hewitt, CEO and co-founder of Love Welcomes; Tanko Doris Laure, refugee from Cameroon; Sanda Leslie, refugee from Cameroon; Josie Naughton, chief executive officer, Help Refugees; Naoko Imoto, education chief UNICEF Partnership Office in Greece.  

Theirworld is a major funder of education on the Greek Islands – with the support of the People’s Postcode Lotteries and our many individual supporters – in partnering with Education Cannot Wait, UNICEF, UNHCR and many local charities and groups.