Jenny Mikakos, Victoria’s former health minister is in Greece, where she is meeting with with local government, diplomatic officials, and various organisations.
On Monday July18, an Australian delegation of the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association (WHIA) met with the Australian Ambassador, Arthur Spyrou.
“We discussed current geo-political issues, progress with the negotiations of the double taxation agreement and trade and investment between Greece and Australia,” Ms Mikakos told Neos Kosmos.
“The social security agreement took many years and the double taxation is progressing more rapidly. We are hoping it will be concluded very soon.”
After that meeting, Ms Mikakos attended a briefing by the secretary general of the Ministry of Tourism Policy and Development, Olympia Anastasopoulou.
“She gave us an overview of Greece’s tourism strategy and it is sophisticated and wide-ranging.”
“There is a big growth in the silver-tourism, which is the over 65s, and they are getting into specialised areas such as gastronomy and medical tourism, as well as weekend tourism for other European countries. Greece is being promoted all year round with a great campaign motto: ‘Greece has a winter!”
Tourism minister Vasilis Kikilias announced in March that Greece would be opening up 50,000 roles for Greek expatriates and Ukrainian as well as other refugees in the tourism sector.
“It’s a wonderful initiative of the Greek Government which will be realised with the help of organisations helping applicants acquire Greek language skills in order to enter the job market.
Ms Mikakos also visited the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) in Athens to relay the unwavering support of Australia’s Greek Diaspora.
The GCR is an NGO that works with the UNHCR to provide humanitarian assistance to people arriving in Greece. This assistance includes free legal advice, employment programs, Greek and English language courses, as well as training programs. In 2005, the GRC was awarded for its work by the then-President of the Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias. Currently, it serves up to 350 children aged 2 to 18, from at least 22 countries.
Ms Mikakos was informed about the daily work of the GCR and was given a tour of the facilities where educational programs are offered daily, by the manager of the PYXIDA Intercultural Center, Anna Mertzani.
She shared her takeaways from her time with GCR staff, Ukrainian parents and children that are receiving support services through the NGO.
“This visit gave me clarity as the chairperson of the Ukrainian Refugees in Greece Appeal, to observe the work of the organisation firsthand as a representative of the Greek Australian diaspora and learn more about the programs currently available and the different services they have to offer.”
The fundraiser to assist the work of GCR has been set up with the collaboration of several Greek organisations and leading Community representatives in order to finance Greek language learning programs. The board responsible for running the Ukrainian Refugees in Greece Appeal includes the President of the Greek Community of Melbourne, Bill Papastergiadis; the President of the Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Fotini Kypraios; PRONIA President, Kris Pavlidis; and Fronditha Care President, Jill Taylor-Nikitakis.
There, Ms Mikakos observed GCR running an English language class for older children – they also run multiple Greek language classes, and an art therapy session for preschool-aged children, together with a psychologist and child psychologist counselling the families through an interpreter.
“I had a discussion with the parents about their future employment objectives,” she told Neos Kosmos, describing one-on-one experiences with newly arrived children from Ukraine still exhibiting intense trauma, as well as the ability to learn Greek words and phrases within a short period of time.
“They assist children to transition into mainstream Greek schools with tutoring before schools reopen in September, while offering trauma-informed support.”
“The parents are very keen to find jobs in Greece and understand that they need to learn Greek in order to achieve this, and be financially independent while giving-back to the Greek community,” she said mentioning the program opening 50,000 jobs in tourism announced by Mr Kikilias.
To this day, Greece has welcomed around 40,000 Ukrainian refugees of whom 80 per cent are women and children as the majority of men stayed behind to defend Ukraine from the Russians.
“I was very impressed by the educational and professional backgrounds of the parents. Many are highly skilled university educated professionals who will be useful to Greece once they transcend the language barrier and are able to integrate into the market,” Ms Mikakos told Neos Kosmos.
“These people don’t receive any financial assistance from the Greek Government and are either living with family and friends in Greece, or living in rentals; and they are keen to find work. Some are assisted with housing. My visit convinced me that what we are doing with setting up this appeal is well-targeted.”
Ms Mikakos said that there are families she met that hope to return to Ukraine but are philosophical about it, given that cities like Mariupol have been completely destroyed and they have nowhere and no one to go back to. “The majority of the refugee families want to make Greece a home for the long-term and are extremely grateful to be here.”
“With the fundraiser, we help them learn the Greek language which will then assist them to find a job and assimilate easier in the society,” Ms Mikakos said, adding that she hopes more people from the Diaspora will support the cause after this visit.
“We have raised about AUD $20,000 and we think we’re going to top that and give a little help to this organisation.”
UKRAINIAN REFUGEES IN GREECE APPEAL
BSB: 942301 ACCOUNT NUMBER: 1747013
Oakleigh and Northcote Bank of Sydney branches can take cash donation deposits.
For more information contact: refugees.in.greece.appeal@dimitrig