Abstract
In Greece, the coincidence of deep austerity occurring at the same time as the advent of large numbers of incoming asylum seekers and migrants has created an extremely pressing condition for social work practice. Social workers in state and municipal social services and in nongovernmental organizations are setting up frontline intensive interventions for arriving migrants and those staying in camps or resettlement programs, while they implement projects to tackle the humanitarian crisis for the most vulnerable and “new poor” indigenous population. They are dealing with emergent human needs of people, whose rights have been and/or are been violated. This article explores human rights as a unifying framework for actions and short- and long-term interventions and lobbying in regard to current austerity and migration contexts and discusses initiatives taken by social work educators to incorporate relevant content into curricula at the bachelor and master’s levels.
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Notes
In the department at the Democritus University of Thrace where I teach, the human rights course is obligatory, taught in the first semester of the undergraduate studies by a professor of law. Passing the exams of this course is a prerequisite for continuing with social work studies and entering to practice placement. The study program extends over eight semesters and is divided into two parts. Part 1 extends in two semesters and includes several obligatory core courses that create a sound foundation on which the degree specializations of part 2 are built. Part 2 extends over the remaining six semesters and consists of three pathways offering obligatory and elective courses in the areas of (a) political science (b) social policy/social administration, and (c) social work.
Social work studies are also offered in three Technological Educational Institutions of Crete, Patra, and Athens. The last became University in 2018, named University of Western Attica.
They were boys (95.9%) and girls (4.1%) between 14 to 18 years old, with 5.2 < 14 years. Although in November 2016, numbers of those coming from Syria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan were relatively similar, in recent months, 39.07% of UACs are coming from Pakistan, 29.18% from Afghanistan, 13.13% from Syria, and 18.62% from other countries (mainly Africa) (National Centre for Social Solidarity 2018).
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/3-31082018-AP-EN.pdf. Assessed 20.09. 2018.
Sharia has been applied under law intended to protect the traditions of the Muslim minority; it mandates the mufti of Xanthi, Komotini, and Didymoticho to hear and solve all the family and hereditary issues of Greek Muslims.
A new law introduced in December 2017 permits the choice between Sharia and public law.
This is the name given to the first workshop by the co-leader (a fourth year student) of the workshop.
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Kallinikaki, T. Social Work Education in Uncertain Times: Protecting the Human Rights of Migrants. J. Hum. Rights Soc. Work 4, 28–35 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-018-0084-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-018-0084-1