Under migrants’ perspective


Under migrants’ perspective was a youth exchange held in Georgia in October 2019, attended by 42 participants, including 6 participants from Finland. The project was orgainsed by the Institute for Cultural Relations Policy (Hungary) and the Georgian Association for Cultural Relations and co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission.


Project summary: We are living the greatest human mobility era in history. Today the world has more than 240 million migrants and this number keeps increasing. Migration is recognized as a key feature of our contemporary world as it provides many opportunities to societies and to migrants themselves. However, it is still one of the least understood phenomenon, leading to an increase of critical political and policy challenges in matters such as safe migration, border management, displacement and integration.
The World Migration Report of 2018 stated an effective number of 244 million migrants in 2015 with an average growth of 0,5% every 5 years. That means it is expected 30 to 50 million more migrants in 2020 if no new and different actions are taken, starting with the raise of awareness which is the core foundation to make a change. The New European Crisis on Migration emerged through the rising number of refugees and migrants coming to the European Union, across the Mediterranean Sea or Southeast Europe, and applying for asylum. They come from areas such as the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Western Balkans and
the reasons behind these flows come from many different push and pull factors. However, these massive flows have been raising many concerns in Europe as they tend to be connected with violent extremism without proof and evidence. The result is a bad public image that leads to fear, prejudice, xenophobia and discrimination towards migrants, all of which are against the values of EU and have a great impact in peace and prosperity of Europe.
For these reasons, we decided to develop this project idea to involve youngsters on this topic. This activity will be a Youth Exchange that will have 42 participants from Hungary, Portugal, Finland, Romania, Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia (6 participants per country) from the 2nd of October till the 9th of October in Rustavi, Georgia.
The main problems the project responds to are: low awareness on the migration crisis happening in Europe as well as the prejudice and discrimination towards migrants and refugees linking them to violent extremists and therefore develops more fear and xenophobia, a vicious circle we must break in Europe.

Main aims: To raise young people’s awareness/understanding on migration crisis in Europe, offering the opportunity to create strong networks and develop a sense of European citizenship and values, thereby promoting non-formal learning and cooperation in the field of youth.

The objectives of the project:
– To foster positive interaction, active participation, self-reflection and personal growth of young people from different social backgrounds of EU by involving them in Youth Exchange that develop their key competences and address issues relevant for them, conducting joint vicarious activities, with holistic experiences and reflections.
– To develop positive attitudes towards arts and its expressions, encouraging experimentation and involvement, stimulating creativity and imagination.
– To raise awareness on migration panorama and its difficulties within participants’ societies and within EU using artistic products on the youth exchange: Theatre play, an exhibition and a video on migration.
– To promote diversity, intercultural dialogue and intercultural learning, developing the sense of unity through diversity within EU, thereby promoting social inclusion
– To promote the Erasmus+ programme, EU values and participation in future activities through the use of non-formal education while promoting its recognition through the YouthPass certificate.