New England Diary

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Greek island confronts the Syrian refugee crisis

Lesbos (in red), right off the Turkish coast.

Next at the Providence Committee on Foreign Relations (thepcfr.org; pcfremail@gmail.com:

On Thursday, Nov. 16 (note change from the previously announced Nov. 15), Maria Karangianis will speak on the refugee crisis in the Aegean:

In May 2015, she traveled to the Greek Island of Lesbos, within sight of Turkey. At that time, hundreds of thousands of refugees were spilling onto the beaches in leaky boats, many of them dying, trying to find freedom from war-torn Syria. The Greek people of the island, who have been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for their generosity, have faced an economic catastrophe with tourism, their main source of income. Maria is currently a Woodrow Wilson visiting fellow and has traveled across the United States speaking at colleges and universities. She is a former guest editor and an award-winning writer on the editorial board of The Boston Globe.