Email: x.velentza@gmail.com
Website: https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/christina-velentza
Bio:
Christina Velentza was an Academy Stavros Niarchos Foundation Fellow with the International Law Programme and Europe Programme, Chatham House in 2015-16. She is a policy advisor, an attorney at law and legal adviser with the Athens Bar Association, Greece. She has worked for the Greek Asylum Service (Ministry of Interior) in partnership with UNHCR on refugee status determination procedure and assessment of claims for international protection. She has previously worked for the EEAS, Legal Service in the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU and NGOs in the field of human rights.
Her research interests are International and European law, international refugee law, migration, internal displacement and international cooperation and she is currently researching the cooperation between Greece and Turkey through the Syrian refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. Christina is a PhD candidate in international refugee law and human rights (Greek State Foundation Scholar), holds her MA in European Studies (Law) from the University of Strasbourg and her BA in Law from the Demokriteion University of Thrace, Greece.
Publications/recent projects:
- February 2017 Displacement: a proper legal explanation for refugees and internally displaced people, Three Pillars Legal Journal Pakistan https://twitter.com/3pillars_Pak
- September 2016, The Independent International human rights lawyer says EU member states are failing in their obligations to refugees
- February 2016 Chatham House https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/schengen-grexit-would-not-solve-eu-s-refugee-crisis
- October 2016 onwards Partner- Senior Consultant Justice and Home Affairs, Migration, Refugees in consulting firm JustDevelop, Stockholm Sweden
- January 2017 Field missions in Lesbos Kara Tepe and Myrsini open center for refugees, Greek response in the refugee crisis and promoting good examples in Greece, in cooperation with Chatham House (documentary to be released in September)
- February 2017 Contribution and research in report on Implementation of the 2015 Council decisions establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and Greece, study for the LIBE European Parliament http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/583132/IPOL_STU(2017)583132_EN.pdf
- Past projects: March 2017 Analyst-Consultant for Intersos, Jordan research on unaccompanied minors