Interview With Jeanne Carstensen: Syrian Refugees Trapped in Greek Camps

Jeanne Carstensen discusses her experience reporting on the refugee crisis with David Marash of KSFR Santa Fe Public Radio.

The European Union's promises to implement mechanisms for Syrians and other victims of conflict to apply for asylum from Greece and Turkey have not materialized. Instead, an EU deal with Turkey has left some 60,000 Syrians and others stranded in Greece.

Carstensen’s reporting focuses on how refugee communities and host country communities adapt to the reality of displacement. Greece has been praised for its compassionate response to the refugee crisis, but that has changed now that it must cope with thousands of refugees as it struggles with its own economic crisis.

She talks about the strategies used by refugees to survive as their displacement lengthens into years, and about how the refugee crisis changes both the people on the move and the countries that host them.