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GreekReporter.comGreek NewsRefugee Student Saidu Kamara Granted Asylum in Greece

Refugee Student Saidu Kamara Granted Asylum in Greece

kamara greece refugee student
Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with refugee student Saidu Kamara to discuss his asylum application. Credit: Office of the Greek Prime Minister

A refugee student facing deportation was granted asylum in Greece, the government spokesman announced on Friday.

17-year-old Saidu Kamara from Guinea in West Africa won his appeal against an earlier decision by the Greek immigration services.

Kamara’s story inspired the Greek public, as it exemplified the struggles of unaccompanied minor refugees in the country.

“The competent bodies of the Greek State responded positively to the request of the student, Saidu Kamara, who participates in Greek education, to make Greece his second Homeland. Greece is a country of law and humanity,” spokesman Giannis Oiconomou tweeted.

In late March, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Kamara at the PM’s office to show his support. He expressed his wish for Kamara to stay in Greece, which has now become his home.

The Odyssey of Kamara: From West Africa to Greece

Kamara arrived on the island of Kalymnos in 2019 as an unaccompanied minor.

He fled his native country due to discrimination and domestic violence. He first made his way to Senegal and then to Turkey, where he got on a boat headed to Greece.

Upon arriving on Kalymnos, the young refugee embraced his new home by integrating into Greek society.

Kamara became a beloved figure in Agios Dimitrios, a southern suburb of Athens where he eventually settled into a home for refugees.

He began attending Greek high school in Agios Dimitrios. Kamara began to shine academically despite the fact that Greek is not his first language.

The refugee was one of the students with the highest grades in his class, and he paraded proudly at his school’s parade for Greek Independence Day on March 25th.

His application for asylum was first rejected in December 2021, and the young adult was set to be deported when he turned 18.

Kamara an exemplary refugee student

In speaking to the television network ERT in March, Nikolas Kaklamanos, the principal of the high school in Agios Nikolaos where Kamara is enrolled, stated that the student is “a shining example of integration in our educational system and in Greek society.”

After traveling so far, Kaklamanos said Kamara “found his family in Agios Dimitrios.”

He stressed that Kamara wishes to stay in Greece and that the entire school and the local community have banded together to try to help the young refugee remain in the country.

The young refugee was permitted to remain in Greece when he was a child and was housed by organizations aimed at helping unaccompanied refugee children in Greece.

 

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