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Lydia Emmanouilidou

Lydia Emmanouilidou is a former reporter for the World.

Lydia Emmanouilidou is a fomer reporter for The World based in Athens, Greece. She covered stories about human rights, migration, the far-right, technology, digital privacy and other issues, with a focus on the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Before joining The World, Emmanouilidou worked for NPR’s investigative unit, where she contributed to several award-winning series. She has also worked as a higher education and general assignment reporter and producer for WGBH in Boston. 

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson arrives for a meeting of EU justice and interior ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021.

EU’s top migration official calls for global response to help Afghans in order to avoid migration crisis in Europe

Afghanistan

Ylva Johansson, home affairs commissioner for the European Union, joined The World’s host Marco Werman to discuss the EU’s plans to avoid a repeat migration crisis like the one experienced in 2015.

A view of Athens from above showning the city and in the distance large dark smoke clouds filling the sky.

Athens’ first-ever chief heat officer says historic heat wave feels ominous, like a ‘prequel’ of the city’s future

The Big Fix
Vegan Beat storefront

Gyro is the ‘holy grail’ of Greek fast food. An Athens restaurant offers a vegan alternative.

Food
A concrete walkway has been paved on the Acropolis plateau in an effort to make the site more accessible. But critics say materials used would make it impossible to remove the pathway without damaging the ancient bedrock underneath.

‘They want to make the Acropolis into Disneyland.’ Site renovations face backlash. 

Infrastructure
White tents of campsite against a blue sky

In Greece, thousands of asylum-seekers are waiting for the COVID-19 vaccine

Greek and Cypriot flags flutter on poles on the left, as Turkish and Turkish Cypriot breakaway flags fly between minarets on the right

As Cyprus’ leaders convene for peace talks in Geneva, some Cypriots say ‘expectations are low’

Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders, along with other stakeholders, are discussing potential solutions to what’s widely known as the “Cyprus issue.” 

The Aegean Sea is shown from Lesbos. Increasingly, migrants and advocates claim, Greek authorities are illegally pushing back to Turkey people who are making the journey to Greece in the Aegean Sea. 

‘People are being abandoned in the middle of the sea’: Claims that Greece pushes back migrants to Turkey are rising

Refugees

Greek authorities have strongly denied those claims. Evidence and pressure, though, are mounting. 

For one of their projects, children were asked to draw two worlds: the reality they live in today and an imaginary world they would like for themselves, and then connect the two with a bridge.

A mental health crisis on Lesbos is worsening 

Refugees

Reports of suicide attempts within the refugee population are up, as are other symptoms related to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Meanwhile, virtually all mental services on the island are at capacity. 

The new migrant facility on Lesbos will be built next to an active landfill, according to a map published by local media in the fall.

‘This island is a prison’: Migrants say plan for a refugee camp on Lesbos is too isolating

Refugees

The European Union has announced a quarter-billion euros in funding for five new refugee camps on Greek islands, including on Lesbos. Some are worried the new site will not improve conditions for migrants on the island. 

A migrant stands outside his tent at Karatepe refugee camp, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, March 29, 2021. The European Union's home affairs commissioner is visiting asylum-seeker facilities on the eastern Greek islands of Samos and

Activists protest migrant facility plan in Greece: ‘Greek islands will not be turned to prisons’ 

Refugees

A group of residents gathered in the port city of Mytilene to protest plans for a permanent migrant facility on the island.