# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Raising Awareness about the situation of newly arrived migrants

# data[].attributes.headline
2.6 Activities - Arriving in a New Country

# data[].attributes.subject
2.6 Activities - Arriving in a New Country

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Raising Awareness | M2 Activities - Arriving in a new country

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Raising Awareness | M2 Activities - Experience of Flight

# data[].attributes.headline
2.4 Activities - Countries of Origin & Reasons for Leaving

# data[].attributes.subject
2.4 Activities - Countries of Origin & Reasons for Leaving

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Raising Awareness | M2 Activities - Origins & Reasons

# data[].attributes.body
As Nora mentions, it is most important for students to get in contact with newly arrived migrants so that they do not remain this anonymous mass that is talked about in the media. Therefore bringing newly arrived migrants into your classroom is probably the most powerful thing you can do to raise awareness.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Raising Awareness | M2 Brezger - Finding Support

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How do you discuss a major terrorist action in the classroom?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You hear the news about a major terrorist attack. After your first personal shock you think as a teacher: "How do I discuss this in class? '. This happened Marinka Mulder and Erik van de Woestijne, teachers at Wellant college Houten after the bombings in Paris on November 13, 2015.
Before starting the lessons the teachers had a team meeting on how to create a safe environment for conversation in the classroom after attacks with many victims in Paris.

Marinka tells in the video how she designed her own lessons and Erik tells about what he has been given as guidance in the team meeting.

# data[].attributes.body
The  topic about terrorist attacks is often associated with refugees. In such moments when emotions are running high it is essential that we as teachers remain calm and factual but at the same time don't shy away from openly engaging with our students' feelings and beliefs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Raising Awareness | M2 General Strategies & Activities

# data[].attributes.headline
2.1 Live Events: Treasure Hunt & Twitter Chat

# data[].attributes.subject
2.1 Live Events: Treasure Hunt & Twitter Chat

# data[].attributes.body
I attended the event but I have not answered any questions I write in English very slowly, it was an interesting experience

# data[].attributes.body
Raising awareness and fostering informed debate
The Learning Objectives for this module are:

1. Develop a range of ideas for activities on how to raise awareness with your students

2. Think about the role of social media in shaping many views and discussions and how to address this with your students

3. Design a number of activities in a lesson plan that raise awareness and highlight the local situation of newly arrived migrants

4. Review the work of three peers, thereby reflecting about your own work and gaining further ideas for your own lesson plan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Accoglienza, welfare, razzismo e nuove leggi sull'asilo in Germania dopo i grandi arrivi del 2015

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Intervento di Nora Brezger (Flüchtlingsrat Berlin / Consiglio dei Rifugiati di Berlimo), durante la sessione del pomeriggio del convegno "L'Agenda UE sulle migrazioni: un anno in rotta. Migranti e rifugiati tra guerre, frontiere, hotspot e relocations.

# data[].attributes.body
My name is Angela Caruso I teach Philosophy and History  in secondary high school in Cosenza.

There are no migrants in my class, few migrant students   are in my school  and they are well integrated .  I want to understand more about  newly arrived migrants and share with my students the different  viewpoints  of this  issue and discuss with them  around  a variety  of perspectives as  causes of migration, migration journeys,  the situation in shelters, legal status,  psychological effects  and the impact in Europe  ecc.  to overcome misinformation and prejudices.

# data[].attributes.body
The coasts of Calabria are the destination landing of boats carrying migrants. There are various reception centers in the provinces of Reggio Calabria, Crotone, Vibo Valentia. The large number of presence does not allow all of them to live well. But there have been positive experiences where the emigrants were able to live in a comfortable and dignified way. Many pass from Calabria to go to other places in northern Italy and northern Europe. Community and non-EU immigrants registered as residents in Calabria totaled 86,491 units, 53.5 percent of whom are women. According to the findings of the XXIV immigration report from Caritas Migrants, immigrants make up 4.4 percent of the Calabrian population. In Cosenza a multifunctional center, located in the old area of ​​the city, provides a multi-worship hall, a farewell room, a day care center for children of immigrants, with equipment and furniture for the development of recreational activities, sport and educational-pedagogical activities, and an orientation desk for the inclusion of immigrants extraeuropean.

# data[].attributes.body
Nora introduces  in the video some of the main aspects with a particular focus on recent developments.

What are the main reasons many people leave their countries?

At the moment the main factors are  desperation  because of war, insecurity and  tribal conflicts.

The second factor is poverty and perspectives of work.

The video below explains the war in Syria and how this links to the situation of refugees in Europe:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Raising Awareness | M1 Brezger - Why people migrate

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor)

# data[].attributes.headline
1.2 Twitter Chat: The Situation of Newly Arrived Migrants: Facts and Impact#DiversityMOOCs

# data[].attributes.subject
1.2 Twitter Chat: The Situation of Newly Arrived Migrants: Facts and Impact#DiversityMOOCs

# data[].attributes.body
In preparation for the twitter chat  it was suggested   to review the following websites that documents stories or publish relevant aspects of the situation of Newly Arrived Migrants:

http://twobillionmiles.com

The journey that refugees take to Europe

Study on Educational Support for newly arrived migrant children

EU Migrant Crisis (Doctors without Borders) May 2016

Sweden toughens rules for refugees seeking asylum (New York Times) June 2016

The Twitter chat was moderated by @aliciabankhofer. At regular times during the discussion she posed  these questions:

Q1 What role have migrants played in your country’s history? Any famous migrants to/from your country?

Q2 Can you share any personal migration stories either in your family or any ones that have inspired you?

Q3 What support organizations for migrants, state-sponsored or NGO, exist in your area? Tell us about their work

Q4 Describe the living conditions of Newly Arrived Migrants in your region. May kids go to school? May adults work?

Q5 In your experience/view, what problem with the situation with Newly Arrived Migrants must be solved most urgently?

Q6 What can teachers do to contribute to informed debate about the situation of new arrivals?

Q7 What examples or best practices, either private or state initiatives, have you heard about to help newly arrived persons?

Q8 Do the legal guidelines for Newly Arrived Migrants help their situation or make it worse?

It was my first experience in a twitter chat and I found it very interesting because I learned  different opinions about the history and tradition of migrants and the local organizations that accompany newly arrived migrants  in different countries

# data[].attributes.headline
I feel less confident to introduce in the best way  the topic to my classroomThe advice  of Nora Brezger of the Refugee Council in Berlin-Germany  is   that  teachers  need to approach  the topic of newly arrived   migrants with  students without talking  about   "the refugees" or "the migrants".  They have to  understand  the diversity of  reasons why people are leaving their countries,  why people are leaving their homes,  their families, their culture, to describe what is the situation in their countries of origin. Teachers also have   to respect individual stories that are part of the people who have been recently arriving in Europe and to examine the journeys  that refugees take to Europe.

# data[].attributes.subject
I feel less confident to introduce in the best way  the topic to my classroomThe advice  of Nora Brezger of the Refugee Council in Berlin-Germany  is   that  teachers  need to approach  the topic of newly arrived   migrants with  students without talking  about   "the refugees" or "the migrants".  They have to  understand  the diversity of  reasons why people are leaving their countries,  why people are leaving their homes,  their families, their culture, to describe what is the situation in their countries of origin. Teachers also have   to respect individual stories that are part of the people who have been recently arriving in Europe and to examine the journeys  that refugees take to Europe.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Mahmood's surname, Halaby, means "from Aleppo" in Arabic.

Having fled 3,000 miles from Syria, it is the only piece of home he carries with him.

He has not seen his wife or two young sons for 17 months, but this week they are joining him to rebuild their lives in the unfamiliar city of Belfast.

He told me: "If you stay in Syria, you die or you fight - you don't have a choice."

Their former city, Aleppo, was once Syria's largest city and the country's economic hub.

Now it is a crumbling shell of its former self, devastated by half a decade of brutal civil war.

Mahmood's family lived in an area loyal to President Assad, but as the fighting raged on, it became more difficult to get to his carpentry workshop in a rebel-held zone.

On one of these journeys his 18-year-old nephew, Mohammed, was shot and killed by snipers.

Risking his life

Like many others, the family were forced to stay at home without work for three years, economically crippled as bombs fell around their home.

When asked if he had siblings, Mahmood replied: "I had five brothers and six sisters but if you have big family, you lost a lot of them."

He sold off his machinery and fled with his family to Gaziantep in Turkey, where they stayed in the kitchen of his brother-in-law's small flat.

Mahmood then made the decision to risk his life crossing the Mediterranean to try to establish a life for his family in Europe.

He paid a smuggler £800 for a place on a plastic boat made for 20 people.

Fifty-five refugees were eventually crammed on, including women and children - but Mahmood refused to take that risk with his family.

Travelling through Europe, his life was an endless loop of bureaucratic backlogs and walking endlessly with just his phone's GPS for guidance.

On his first attempt to cross into Macedonia from Greece, he and a small group of other refugees walked 30 miles until their feet bled.

"Nobody helped us, but we have a dream," he said. "We lost all our money, we are really tired but we continue on our way."

Like thousands of others, he ended up stranded at Calais.

He lived in a tent for four-and-a-half months, and said he knew many who lost their lives attempting to cross into the UK.

Using his carpentry skills, he helped build the mosque and library facilities there - which have now been demolished.

Eventually a smuggler helped stow him into a van crossing the channel, where he was crammed in for 18 hours without any food.

"You can't go to bathroom, you can't drink water," he said. "But I knew it was my last chance, if I lost it I couldn't try again."

When asked why he wanted to rebuild his life in the UK, he insisted: "For me all of Europe is same, but for my children I think here is better."

Addressing public apprehension regarding incoming refugees and migrants he said: "In Syria I had everything.

"I had a house, car, a workshop, a farm. We had a very nice life - it's not our dream to come here.

"People think refugees are coming here to take everything free, but I came here because I want to work and make my future."

"I have the power and skills. I just want to focus on getting a job, because I know it's a long time before the war is finished in Syria."

Since moving to Belfast in December he has been learning English at college and helping with cooking, gardening and fixing bikes at the centre he has been housed in.

He joked about eating fish and chips in Ballymena when helping load shipping containers of aid for the makeshift camps in Syria and Greece he escaped from.

Mahmood said that he sometimes struggles with the Belfast accent, as well as with local preconceptions of him as a Syrian refugee.

'Syrian and very proud'

"Everyone watches the news and think Syrians are dangerous people. If I liked danger I would stay and fight, not come here.

"I sometimes hear people talking about me, saying 'ISIS' when I talk Arabic.

"I'm Syrian and I'm very proud. I'm not going to change that. It's a problem for them, not for me."

He is worried that these comments could affect his children.

"I had a terrible time travelling to find a good future for my boys. If they don't have a problem I am staying. If they do - I'll go to the stars or another planet!"

He is delighted his family's application through the Family Reunification Scheme has been successful.

After 17 months apart and years of living in fear, he hopes they can now begin to build a new life for themselves in Northern Ireland.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
From Aleppo to Belfast: A refugee's story

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The story of one man's 3,000-mile journey as a Syrian refugee to rebuild his life in Northern Ireland.

# data[].attributes.body
It's important to clarify the meaning of the term "newly arrived migrants" . By using the term "newly arrived migrants" we try to capture the multitude of people arriving recently in Europe, recognizing their diversity of reasons for leaving their home countries.

Some  migrants are coming to Europe for work or education, or simply joining their families or relatives who have lived in Europe for a long time

Refugees are fleeing war or some other disaster that does not allow them to return to their homeland

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Raising Awareness | M1 Brezger - Introduction

# data[].attributes.headline
Module 1   The situation of newly arrived migrants

# data[].attributes.subject
Module 1   The situation of newly arrived migrants

# data[].attributes.body
Learning Objectives are:

Understand the backgrounds, journeys, reasons for leaving and current legal and living conditions of newly arrived migrants in Europe

Identify and get in contact with an organisation or informal group working with newly arrived migrants in your locality, region, or country

Investigate the background and current situation of newly arrived migrants in your locality, region, or country