MEDIATION IN MIGRATION GOVERNANCE
THE MULTIPLE FACETS OF PROTECTION

International workshop organized by the Observatory of the Refugee and Migration Crisis in
the Aegean in Mytilene (University Hill), 8-10 June 2022

WEDNESDAY 8 JUNE

16:00 – 16:15 Welcome by The Department of Social Anthropology and History and the Observatory
of the Refugee and Migration Crisis in the Aegean

MEDIATED INTERACTIONS IN THE HUMANITARIAN ARENA
AFTERNOON SESSION

Chair: Shahram Khosravi (University of Stockholm)

16.15 – 16.30 Introducing the project ‘Settling in the ‘humanitarian city’:
The social, cultural, and political impact of the interaction between asylum seekers,
agents of humanitarian governance and local society in Greece [Human(c)ity]

16.30 – 16.50 Village reborn in humanity: Mediation in the making of the humanitarian arena
Evthymios Papataxiarchis (University of the Aegean) with Alexandra Zavos (University of
Crete)

16.50 – 17.10 The ‘humanitarian town’: An overview of the humanitarian scene in Mytilene (Lesvos)
Pafsanias Karathanasis (University of the Aegean) with Kelly Avanidou (University of the
Aegean)

17.10 – 17.30 Comments and discussion
Thea Hilhorst (Erasmus University)

17.30 – 18.00 COFFEE BREAK

18.00 – 18.20 Mediating accommodation in the official ESTIA municipal program in Athens
Marica Rombou Levidi (University of the Aegean)

18.20 – 18.40 Informal practices of mediation in the process of asylum seekers’ settlement in Athens
Ervin Shehu (University of the Aegean)

18.40 – 19.00 Spatialities of mediation? Refugee-serving NGOs and community business networks in
downtown Thessaloniki
Panos Hatziprokopiou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) and Alexandra Siotou
(University of Thessaly)

19.00 – 19.30 Comments and discussion
Maria Kastrinou (Brunel University)

19.30 – 19.45 COFFEE BREAK

THE EXPERIENCE OF MEDIATION IN HUMANITARIAN ACTION
Chair: Katerina Rozakou (Panteion University) and Effie Plexousaki (University of the Aegean)

19.45 – 21.00 First Round Table
Theodoros Alexellis (UNHCR Lesvos Sub-Office), Nefeli Bami (Social anthropologist,
Humanitarian worker), Effie Latsoudi (Lesvos Solidarity), Mohammed Mirzay (Afghan
Migrant and Refugee Community in Greece), Salim Naby (Interpreter in the AdMiGov
project)

THURSDAY 9 JUNE
MORNING SESSION
THE PRACTICE OF PROTECTION AT THE BORDERLANDS OF EUROPE: A VIEW FROM BELOW

Chair: Anja Van Heelsum (University of Amsterdam)

10.00 – 10.15 Introduction: Studying protection at the borderlands of Europe
Evthymios Papataxiarchis (University of the Aegean)

10.15 – 10.30 Protection in a hostile environment: An on-the-ground study of protection practices in
Lesvos and Athens (Greece)
Natasha Anastasiadou (University of the Aegean) and Alexandra Zavos (University of
Crete)

10.35 – 10.55 Protection as a spatial Issue: Politics and practices of internal mobility in Turkish
forced migration Context
Ayşen Üstübici (Koç University) and Sibel Karadağ (Kadir Has University)

10.55 – 11.15 COFFEE BREAK

11.15 – 11.35 Displaced Syrians in Lebanon: Protection amidst crises
Maria Gabriella Trovato (Norwegian University of Life Sciences)

11.35 – 11.55 ‘People are more than their migration status’: Protection beyond legal-centrism and
containment
Polly Pallister Wilkins (University of Amsterdam)

11.55 – 12.15 Protection problems of people on the move
Roberto Forin (Mixed Migration Centre)

12.15 – 12.35 Comments
Rinus Penninx (University of Amsterdam) and Effie Voutira (University of Macedonia)

12.35 – 13.00 Discussion

13.00 – 14.30 LUNCH BREAK

AFTERNOON SESSION
MEDIATION IN HUMANITARIAN PROTECTION: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES

Chair: Effie Voutira (University of Macedonia)

14.30 – 14.50 Smuggling as humanitarian intervention
Shahram Khosravi (Stockholm University)

14.50 – 15.10 Protection on my own terms: Human smuggling and unaccompanied Syrian minors
Luigi Achilli (European University Institute)

15.10 – 15.30 Mediation in refugees’ pandemic responses in a Palestinian camp in Lebanon
Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh (University College London)

15.30 – 15.50 Discussion

15.50 – 16.10 COFEE BREAK

16.10 – 16.30 Mediating official refugee reception policies in the urban environment of Istanbul
Ayşen Üstübici (Koç University)

16.30 – 16.50 Mediators: Tensions in a profession in the making
Katerina Rozakou (Panteion University)

16.50 – 17.10 Brokering care in Athens social clinics: Informal medical protection of refugees and
Greek citizens
Heath Cabot (University of Pittsburgh)

17.10 – 17.30 Solidarity and intermediation: Affinity ties in humanitarianism
Anne-Meike Fechter (University of Sussex)

17.30 – 18.00 Discussion

FRIDAY 10 JUNE
MORNING SESSION
DEALING WITH GAPS IN HUMANITARIAN PROTECTION

Chair: Evthymios Papataxiarchis (University of Aegean) and Rinus Penninx (University of Amsterdam)

10.00 – 12.00 Second Round Table
Toulina Demeli (UNHCR Lesvos Sub-Office), Nikos Gionakis (Babel Day Centre, Athens),
Vasilis Kerasiotis (HIAS Greece), Vanessa Muelhausen (EU Migration Task Force, Lesvos),
Thomas Papakonstantinou (Social Anthropologist), Eleni Takou (Human Rights 360)

12.00 – 12.15 COFFEE BREAK

12.15 – 12.30 War and migration: The management of Ukrainian refugees’ influx to Poland
Patrycja Protasiewicz Matusz (University of Wroclaw, Poland)

12.30 – 13.00 Discussion

All the activities of the workshop, the three main sessions and the two round tables, will take place in
the Amphitheater of the Geography building in University Hill