Shipwrecked. Rethinking migration and asylum in Europe #Highlights

The complex topic of migration and asylum was examined at the international conference "Shipwrecked. Rethinking migration and asylum in Europe", organised on 24-25 June 2024 in Thessaloniki, Greece by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Over 130 experts from all over the world – activists, lawyers, journalists, academics, politicians, members of civil society organisations – spent two days discussing and analysing the current situation and the perspectives that lie ahead. They took part in a busy programme of workshops, open conference and networking meetings exploring different aspects of the issue, from the criminalisation of people on the move to border violence and from the LGBTQI+ asylum seekers to the role of local government. In a Europe shaken by the rise of the far right and adopting ever stricter pacts on migration and asylum, what can the resilience of the Rule of Law be? The programme of the congress was accompanied by events such as the photo exhibition "1000 dreams: stories from the LGBTQ+ refugee experience", and the open-air concert with singer Vasso Vassiliadou and her musicians, which turned into a big folk party with the participation of people from the neighbourhood.