MIJARC Europe

This article is part of a series of stories written by the young people who took part at our seminar “A call for peace for all”. They include real life stories of people who left their countries and/or information about migration in one of the European countries where MIJARC Europe has members. All those whose names or any other identification data appear in the articles have given their written consent for making this information public.

In the context of the topic chosen for this year by our member movements – peace – we have launched an online campaign of peace messages and quotes under the #nevertakepeaceforgranted slogan. This campaign is part of our work plan which also includes two international activities and a travelling exhibition on the topic of peace. The first international activity of our work plan was preceeded by a preparatory phase during which our members had to interview/discuss with at least two people who had left their countries and are now know as “migrants”, “refugees” or “asylum seekers”. To our members they are just people, as are those living next to us. They have emotional and unusual stories, they live in different conditions but as our participants discovered they have not forgoten to be kind, tolerant, open and to forgive.

Here we bring you the article written by the participants from Armenia.

Article written by:

Armine Movsesyan
Seda Mkrtchyan
Yeghiazaryan Diana

Being considered as the worst humanitarian crisis of nowadays, the Syrian refugee crisis is one of the major and complex issues in the world. According to Armenian officials, more than 22,000 Syrians have been forced to leave their homes and come to their ancestral homeland since the start of the conflict in 2011. By 2015, the United Nations refugee agency said Syrian refugees accounted for six of every 1,000 people in Armenia.
Currently, Syrian Armenians have various legal statuses in Armenia, including Armenian citizens (dual citizens), refugees, asylum seekers, and persons with temporary or permanent residence (one/five/ten years). According to the Armenian Ministry of Diaspora a total of 10,707 people received citizenship in the period of 2012-2014. Refugee and asylum seekers comprise a smaller number, around 700-800 Syrian-Armenians, for the period of 2012-2013.

According to the Migration Service of Armenia: 236 people were granted asylum, of which 136 provided with shelter. Considering the regional developments and multiple challenges Armenia faces today, the need for a relevant infrastructure to address the social and economic issues of Syrian-Armenians becomes extremely urgent.

The arrivals are still ongoing (86 persons in 2017). It should be noted that Armenia also hosts refugees and asylum-seekers from Iraq, Ukraine and Iran and smaller numbers of refugees from some African countries. Moreover, about 600 of the persons displaced in consequence of the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in April 2016 remain in Armenia and have been now integrated into the general assistance and integration activities.
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We were pleased to have a talk with Ramella Khanoyan, who left her home in Aleppo, Syria and came back to Armenia during the war.

FYCA-Ramella Khanoyan.jpg — Ramella Khanoyan

“I arrived in Armenia with my family several years ago. I was 11 years old, when the war began. At first, I couldn’t believe that it was a reality. The first shock happened in March 2011, when I was going to take part in a dancing concert in Aleppo. I had waited for that concert so much. It was one of my biggest dreams to participate in it. We were practicing at the hall with my friends and tutors, when suddenly the first bomb exploded. At first we couldn’t imagine that a war started. We felt like unconscious people, but in a few minutes realized that it is not a dream. We escaped from there, and everything got cancelled. Afterwards, similar attacks occurred and I started getting used to it. I have lost a lot of acquaintances, friends and neighbors day by day. The situation gradually became worse and worse, and my parents made a decision to abandon. I remember how frightening it was our way to the airport. We took a taxi, can’t remember how luckily passed the border and immediately went to Damaskos. It is a pity, that we left our childhood, friends, memories there in Aleppo. But anyway, I would never leave my homeland and go back. Armenia is the only place, that I should live in. There is no place like HOME”.

Here we bring you the article written by the participants from Romania. The Romanian version of the article can be found below.

An article written by:

Ivan Emilia Iuliana

Neagu Sara Georgiana

Vlădulescu Cristian Giovani

We are Emilia, Sara and Cristian. In the year 2018 we undertook the mission to overcome the barriers of indifference developed by the collective spirit of the last decades and to penetrate, inspired by the moral and social values of MIJARC Europe, in the world of the least listened.

We put our microphones, cameras, mind and soul beside them, and listened to their stories, I stared at them. Among the key tools that facilitated this road were patience, understanding, solidarity, empathy, and an unwavering psychological force. Although we have prepared to equip them from the start, we recognize that we have had some surprises. At both the beginning and the end, I realized that I needed courage. The courage to accept that we, in front of them, are strangers. Aliens are not so much the country and their language, as foreigners of life experience, strangers of a tortured livelihood, strangers of sacrifice, strangers of suffering. However, the people we discussed with were very open, warm and sincere. They talked to us kindly, they smiled parents and treated us in the purest form, just as they treated their family members. The joy we received with these emotions was unbounded for us, and the feeling itself was overwhelming.

Finally, we can add that we have not only developed a sense of great empathy, but we have understood and how blessed we are that we have been born ordinary citizens, in common, citizens of a country exempt from sacrifice and pain.

Un articol scris de:

Ivan Emilia Iuliana

Neagu Sara Georgiana

Vlădulescu Cristian Giovani

Noi suntem sunt Emilia, Sara și Cristian. În anul lui 2018 ne-am asumat misiunea de a depăși barierele nepăsării dezvoltate de spiritul colectiv al ultimelor decenii și de a pătrunde, impulsionați de valorile morale și sociale ale MIJARC Europe, în lumea celor mai puțin ascultați.

Ne-am pus microfoanele, camerele de filmat, mintea și sufletul lângă ei și le-am ascultat poveștile, i-am privit în suflet. Printre instrumentele-cheie care au facilitat acest drum s-au numărat răbdarea, înțelegerea, solidaritatea, empatia și o forță psihologică de neclintit. Deși ne-am pregătit pentru echiparea cu acestea încă de la început, recunoaştem am avut parte de câteva surprize. Atât la început, cît și la sfârșit, am realizat că aveam nevoie și de curaj. Curajul de a accepta că noi, în fața lor, suntem niște străini. Străini nu atât de țara și de limba lor, cît străini de experiență de viață, străini de un trai chinuitor, străini de sacrificu, străini de suferință. Cu toate acestea, persoanele cu care am discutat au fost foarte deschise, calde și sincere. Ne-au vorbit cu bunătate, ne-au zâmbit părintește și ne-au tratat în cea mai pură formă, la fel cum îi tratează pe membrii familiei lor. Bucuria cu care am primit aceste emoții din partea lor a fost, pentru noi, nemărginită, iar sentimentul în sine a fost copleșitor.

În final, putem adăuga că am reușit nu doar să dezvoltăm un simț al empatiei foarte puternic, dar am înțeles și cât de binecuvântați suntem că ne-am născut cetățeni obișnuiți, de rând, cetățeni ai unei țări scutite de sacrificiu și durere.

Between the 2nd and 5th July 2017, MIJARC Europe ran the international youth peace camp “We are the others”, part of the annual work plan on the topic of peace. The peace camp took place in Portugal and it was co-financed by Renovabis.

Even though Europe is still one of the most peaceful and prosperous parts of the world, there are some regions on the continent that have become unstable and more insecure and where acts of extremism and an increased fear towards the so-perceived “others” – migrants, refugees or asylum seekers and any minority group – have resulted in lower levels of tolerance, respect of human rights and freedom. In rural areas, conflict often appears because of competition for land and natural resources. In addition to this, poverty, lack of employment and opportunities of a better future can nurture resentment and cause fertile social contexts for intolerance and extremism. Also, for young people living in rural areas conflicts often have devastating consequences making them even more vulnerable.

“We are the others” is a youth project that aims to prove everybody exactly what it says: that we all are responsible ourselves for all the situations we are part of. It sends the message that it is always in our power to generate change and play our positive role in our community, country, in Europe and around the world. The project aims to make the young people involved and those it reaches aware of the important and positive role they play in the maintenance and promotion of peace and security at all levels. Its objectives are to encourage tolerance, solidarity and intercultural dialogue exerted by young people as means of moving beyond the mistakes of the past and building the future, to help the rural young people participating in the project acquire intercultural competences in order to become more aware and active citizens for peace, countering radicalization and extremism, to promote a different narrative on the role of young people in conflict contexts depicting them as assets in peace building and peace maintaining and to create a tool for young people to spread their message of peace and social inclusion in their rural communities. It will do this by involving 30 young people from rural areas across Europe: Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Romania and migrants, refugees or asylum seekers located in Portugal. They all decided to join forces and invest in the development of their intercultural competences in order to be more prepared to work and live with vulnerable groups, to promote social inclusion in their communities and diffuse tensions that appear whenever we see those different from us as “the others”. Through the project, the young participants will create together a Position Paper and a travelling photo exhibition that will include portraits and stories of conflict and peace and photos that will suggest solutions for what young people can do today in order to build a safer and peaceful future.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an educational booklet, containing activities designed by the participants that can be done with the exhibition. This exhibition will travel to eleven different countries, to meet with 500 young people and it will also be displayed at a peace festival where it will be seen by more than 5,000 young people from all over Europe.

nick-schumacher-97610 — Photo by Nick Schumacher on Unsplash

Nowadays 1,8 billion people leave in conflict affected areas and 244 million people have been displaced due to conflictual contexts.[1] The Global Peace Index of 2017, showed us that the global peacefulness has deteriorated by 2.14 per cent since 2008[2]. With ongoing conflicts in Myanmar, Syria, Iran, Colombia, Somalia- just to mention a few, we see not only a need for an immediate action to deter the conflicts but also the need to prevent conflicts. There is not a magic formula that can insure that conflicts can be prevented, as various factors need to be considered: social, political and climate context, history of the state, economic trends, access to resources, accessibility of the population to education etc., however, we can all agree that investments in military sectors rather than peace building (under 10 billion dollars[3]) it is not the answer we need.

In the last years, we have come to understand that peace[4]– in the sense of the absence of war/ violent conflict known as Negative Peace- it is not necessary sustainable, however, peace which includes development and growth opportunities has a higher possibility of being sustainable. The dependency between peace and development is known as Positive Peace- “the integration of human society” in the words of John Galtung. The Institute for Economics and Peace[5] identified eight pillars of positive peace which are yearly measured per country: 1) A Well-Functioning Government; 2) Sound Business Environment; 3) Equitable Distribution of Resources; 4) Equitable Distribution of Resources; 5) Acceptance of the rights of others; 6) Good Relations with Neighbors; 7) Free Flow of Information; 8)High Levels of Human Capital and 9)Low levels of Corruption.

Although achieving high levels of development per each pillar may seem a long and hard process, each and every one of us, can contribute towards the improvement of the fifth pillar: Acceptance of the rights of others. In this sense, non-formal education methods and opportunities- offered by programmes such as Erasmus + and EYF- to exchange with people from other cultures, social backgrounds, different religions help increase tolerance, knowledge and understanding of the realities in other countries, play a major role in shaping perceptions and eliminating discrimination. Especially at the level of youth, international non-governmental organizations have been engaging young people in exchanges on different topics, inspiring them to be informed, to participate actively at local and international level. Young people are sources of incredible power that can add value and knowledge to so many fields, peace being one of these fields- young people have developed and implemented a series of activities that promote peace, for instance: developing an interactive map of peace agents – http://www.tgpcloud.org/p4p/index.php?m=youth ; training of youth able to mobilize a larger number of other young people 32 622- Youth Initiatives for Peace and Reconciliation project or PATRIR’s EduPace club. These are examples of actions that we can all promote, actively participate in and become agents of positive change and peacebuilding.

And you, what are you doing today, for a peaceful tomorrow?

Article written by Alexandra SOLOMON

European Secretary

[1] Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, Speech at UNLEASH Awards Ceremony; available at: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/speeches/2017/08/21/achim-steiner-undp-administrator-speech-at-unleash-awards-ceremony.html

[2] Institute for Economics and Peace, Global Peace Index 2017

[3] Idem 2

[4] Distinction made by John Galtung in “ Violence, Peace, and Peace Research” 1969

[5] Institute for Economics and Peace, POSITIVE PEACE REPORT 2017, pg. 9

Our member organization from Romania, Assistance and Programmes for Sustainable Development – Agenda 21 (APSD-Agenda 21) managed to bring to their round table 18 participants representing 15 public institutions and local authorities from all over the country: Bucharest School Inspectorate, Giurgiu County School Inspectorate, National Agency for People with Disabilities, Bucharest 4th district City Hall, National Authority for the Protection of Child Rights and Adoption, Prefecture Institution Giurgiu, Cornu City Hall, National Agency of Civil Servants, General Directorate for Social Assistance and Child Protection 6th district Bucharest, General Directorate for Social Assistance and Child Protection 1st district Bucharest, County Council Prahova , Ploiesti City Hall, Calvini Region City Hall, Ramnicu Sarat City Hall, Teachers Training House Buzau. It was an impressively diverse group of civil servants, local elected decision-makers, teachers, schools inspector, social workers and young people. The young participants who had attended the seminar used a Power Point presentation to present the Position Paper and started a moderated discussion on the points raise.

One of the main conclusions of the meeting was the importance of education, in formal and non-formal contexts, for both victims and authors of extremist acts. The representatives of the school inspectorates who were present at the meetings suggested that the topic could be approached by the Master teachers during the counselling classes. Another conclusion was that it would be very important if there were funds dedicated to organizing proper information/awareness-raising sessions or workshops/seminars with students of all ages.

The representatives of public institutions underlined that in public administration there were a series of documents and codes that comprise the principles of the Position Paper, but nevertheless these codes are not always respected by the letter. So, it would be good to find push-factors that could help in creating a non-discrimination and hate free environment at the level of civil servants.

All participants agreed that social media is a very powerful influencing factor that can easily shape opinions and behaviours, especially of young people. Young people need to learn how to critically analyze a text/post and how to recognize hate speech and discrimination.

The round tables are the third and final phase of our work plan “Radically against extremism”. The work plan is supported by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe, a unique foundation supporting activities developed with, for and by young people.

The recent terrorist attacks in Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and UK, to mention just those happening in Europe, together with the rise in incidents of hate-speech, propaganda and violent xenophobia in Europe show an urgent need for contributions from all sectors in society, including the youth sector, to fight violent radicalisation. While violent radicalisation needs to be confronted and taught on a number of fronts, it is important, that the threats and dangers that it poses for young people are recognised, prevented and acted upon by early and effective intervention measures, respecting young people´s cultural diversity.

The process of identity development can be influenced by many factors, such as family background, peers, internet and social media, political environment and the position of groups of young family in society often confronted with discrimination, humiliation, exclusion, injustice, a lack of prospects, feelings of frustration, which could lead to violent radicalisation.

Parents, siblings, peers and other relevant actors are crucial in supporting a positive development of identity. This can include intercultural awareness and respects for others, active participation in society, but also aspects of spirituality, religion or belief, and involves strengthening the sense of belonging necessary to counterbalance the information and extremist ideas young people may exposed to. Young people should be encouraged to engage in self-reflection, develop empathy, learn critical thinking, how to live with challenges and uncertainties and how to deal with situations and emotions that cause them discomfort, thus becoming more resilient and maintain constructive relations across social groups.

Young people must have awareness and understanding of democracy, equality, respect for human dignity, human rights, pluralism and diversity, and be skilled in media and information literacy. This contributes to critical thinking, an awareness of and knowledge about how information can be based and exploited by violent extremist groups in order to spread propaganda.

Youth work is an accessible and outreaching service, method and tool aiming for the positive identity development of all young people, providing a non-formal and informal environment for the development of values, skills, competences, talents and open attitudes, which also enables them to recognise and manage the risks they are likely to encounter, including violent radicalisation. Youth work uses a broad and holistic approach, involves young people actively and works together with individuals and groups of young people to find solutions to their questions and problems. In this way youth work offers a save environment to grow, build an identity, feel a sense of belonging and be explored to positive peer influences and could prevent negative peer pressure leading to violent radicalization.

Article by Johanna Grießer

On 18th October 2017, our member organization System&Generation from Turkey held two round tables with students and staff of the T.C. Gazi University and with members of their own organisation.

The round tables started with a presentation of MIJARC Europe and the projects it had developed with S&G and it continued with a session in which those attended had the chance to reflect on their own knowledge, attitude and general feelings towards extremism and radicalization. Next, the attendees were involved in a discussion with a professor for Gazi University, trying to find an answer to the question “What can be done in order to prevent or reduce the frequency of these acts?”. The SWOT analysis method was used for the suggested solutions. The entire event enabled the participants to enrich their knowledge on the topic of extremism and to use it in order to bring about a change in attitude in their communities.

The final stage of our annual work plan, the local round tables with local NGOs and public authorities started in September and gave the participants to our international activities the chance to present the result of their work: the Position Paper. With the help of their members movements, the participants contacted public authorities and local NGOs and set a round table, based on the follow-up plan they drafted and assessed together at the end of the seminar. The participants presented the tools developed during the Study Visit and the International Seminar and initiated a discussion from the points raised in the Position Paper. The aim of these round tables is to raise awareness at the local level and to start a discussion on the manner of addressing the issues of radicalisation, extremism and inclusion. Federation of Youth Clubs – Armenia (FYCA), System&Generation – Turkey (S&G) and Assistance and Programmes for Sustainable Development-Agenda 21 – Romania (APSD-Agenda 21) held their round tables and drew interesting conclusion on youth involvement and extremism. More round tables will be held in November and December. Read about them in the “News” category.

Our member movement, YMDRAB-Bulgaria, is running a great project in line with our annual topic on 2017: radicalization and extremism. Their project “People to people – social interaction between Christian ad Muslim rural youngsters” brought together young people from two different religious groups to explore the different realities they face in the rural areas of Bulgaria.

This is a youth project of MIJARC’s member movement YMDRAB Bulgaria. Its main aim is to initiate a social dialogue and to develop intercultural sensitivity between Bulgarian Muslim and Christian rural youngsters. The project took place from 3^rd to 10^th September 2017 and brought together 12 Christian youngsters (from village of Litakovo situated in the Northwestern part of Bulgaria) and 12 Muslim youngsters (from Zhaltusha village situated in the Southeastern part of the country) in a neutral place (in Kranevo village at the Black Sea cost in the Northeastern part of Bulgaria).

The main project activity was an one week collaboration event between the participants. They were accompanied by a coherently built team of trainers and experts, coming from YMDRAB and their partners in the project (Ardino Municipality, Botevgrad Municipality and The National Youth Forum of Bulgaria). Their collaborative work was entirely based on non-formal education, including: presentations, mixed working groups, role plays, group discussions, field visits and others.

During the event the participants shared and analysed the realities of the Christian and Muslim youngsters in the Bulgarian rural areas and identified the challenges and opportunities to develop more cohesive multicultural and multi religious villages. They had the chance to break mutual stereotypes and prejudices and to develop awareness on concepts such as identity, culture, intercultural sensitivity and human rights (including gender equalities). The experts increased participants’ understanding of the local context (including institutions, authorities, relevant programmes, legislation, ect.), which can facilitate their access to social rights. And finally the participants were able to reflect and identify a set of actions for overcoming the mutual exclusion and for increasing the interaction between Christian and Muslim rural youngsters at local level.

As a result of the collaborative work, at the end of the event a Position paper was developed outlining the results of the project. This document contains the common vision of participants how to encourage the social dialogue and interaction between Bulgarian Christian and Muslim rural youngsters. In parallel to that, two Action groups were established in the local communities of the participants, which will act as a moving force or implementation of effective follow-up activities.

Besides the busy agenda, the participants found time for entertainment – there were various thematic evenings and funny activities on the beach. They also had a trip to Varna which is the European Youth Capital in 2017 and visited an outdoor open library created by local Christian and Muslim young volunteers. All of this inspired them for follow up actions and future cooperation.

This activity is supported by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. A unique foundation supporting activities developed with, for & by young people.

Together with its member movement, FYCA, which was the host of the activity, MIJARC Europe implemented its summer camp:

Youth Paving the Way to Solidarity

The summer camp took place in Yereven – Armenia, between 23rd and 29th August 2017. It gathered a wonderful group of 40 young people, from seven different countries (Austria, Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany and Romania) all of them with open minds and fresh ideas who shared stories of their lives and their ideas about living in inclusive societies. The Summer Camp was organized as a result of MIJARC Europe’s concern towards helping rural young people develop a counternarrative discourse to extremism by promoting tolerance, solidarity and non-discrimination through inter-cultural dialogue. By the means of this Summer Camp, we wanted to offer the opportunity of a youth exchange in a multicultural environment where rural youth and young refugees/immigrants could share the realities of each country in order to combat stereotypes and prejudice on both sides.

The Summer Camp pursued the following objectives:

Encouraging inter-cultural dialogue, networking and mobility of young people;
Helping rural young people develop critical thinking in a multicultural environment;
Increasing the involvement of young people in the social life in local communities and develop projects, based on an intercultural approach;
Debating the possible causes of the rise of extremism in youth, its potential consequences and find a common position on the topic;
Empowering young people to take active role in security matters, underlying the importance of including young people in preventing and deterring potential local threats;
Reducing the trauma of the youth migrants/refugees and avoid isolation in the host communities, by fostering an environment where young migrants and refugees can participate and exchange opinions alongside with rural youth;
Raising awareness on and understanding for the difficulty of displaced populations in the host community by creating and performing a small theatre play.

Through the method “See, Judge and Act” the participants engaged in activities based on non-formal and informal learning such as working groups, field visits, pedagogical games, icebreakers and energizers, storytelling, debate/discussions on the topics of the activity, learn how to create a theatre play, thematic evenings, presentations by each country, plenary sessions, interaction with the host community and preparation of dissemination and exploitation of the results of the Summer Camp.

We started on the first day with some name games and icebreakers to get the participants closer together. The next day we initiated pedagogical games, icebreakers and energizers and storytelling to get on the topics of radicalization, extremisms and solidarity. Here it was possible for the participants to discuss the topics in a very deep way and to find solutions how to deal with radicalization, extremisms, xenophobia and how to create solidarity. In the late afternoon, we visited Aleppo NGO. Their mission is to protect, support and empower Syrian citizens sheltered in Armenia, develop and implement lasting projects to contribute to their settlement and integration processes. It was a great example for vivid solidarity. The next day we visited the Genocide museum of Yerevan, to learn more about the Armenian history and in the afternoon, we went to Lake Sevan, to get an impression from the beautiful Armenian countryside. The next day, they participants created a theatre play how to handle radicalization, extremisms and xenophobia and the following day it was presented in city of Yerevan to the Armenian people to bring the message from solidarity to the people.

You can watch some parts of the theatre play here: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3.

The participants recorded a video message too. See what they had to say here.