ESTIA - A new chapter in the lives of refugees in Greece
UNHCR works with the Greek Government, local authorities and NGOs to provide urban accommodation and cash assistance to refugees and asylum-seekers in Greece through ESTIA, the Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation programme, funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund of the European Union.
Urban accommodation provides a normal daily life for refugees and asylum seekers in Greece, facilitates their access to services, including education, and the eventual integration for those who will remain in the country. The host population also benefits from embracing diversity through peaceful coexistence as well as the renting of their apartments.
Cash assistance restores dignity and empowers refugees and asylum-seekers who can now choose how to cover their basic daily needs. It also contributes directly to the economy of the host community through the purchase of services and goods.
Stories
Learn how ESTIA supports the everyday life of refugees and asylum seekers in Greece
Greek exhibition gives Slovaks a sense of the refugee experience
School opens doors to a new life for a refugee family in Greece
Thessaloniki welcomes “Face Forward …into my home” art project
“Face Forward …into my home” exhibition travels to Heraklion, Crete
Statistics
Types of Accommodation
- Apartments (95%)
- Buildings (5%)
Achievements
Accommodation Locations
- Islands (6%)
- Attica region (56%)
- Central Greece (8%)
- Northern Greece (20%)
- Western Greece (6%)
- Crete (4%)
As of 31 May 2019
Factsheets
Monthly and weekly updates on the progress of accommodation under ESTIA
Greece Cash Assistance – May 2019
Greece Accommodation update – May 2019
ESTIA Accommodation Capacity Weekly Update – 4 June 2019
ESTIA Accommodation Capacity Weekly Update – 28 May 2019
Multimedia
School opens doors to a new life for a refugee family in Greece
Ashti and Dilpak Jamal fled Iraq with their two children, Mohamad and Sara. They found safety in Sindos, northern Greece, where they live in an apartment under the ESTIA programme*.
Eager to make a new start and become a part of their community, all four of them go to school. Sara and Mohamad attend primary and secondary school respectively, Dilpak participates in language classes in the Blue Refugee Centre** and Ashti attends evening classes at a vocational high school.
In life, you need to keep learning. The Jamal family knows that and they are building their new life in Greece, with support from ESTIA programme.
*ESTIA programme is implemented by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners, with funding by the European Commission.
**Blue Refugee Centre is run in Thessaloniki by SolidarityNow and is supported by UNHCR, UNICEF and the European Commission.
