The Program for International Education and Social Change (PIESC)

Latest updates:

December 5, 2018: Sara Mardini Released on Bail
Berlin – Sara Mardini, a first-year student at Bard College Berlin, humanitarian worker and Syrian refugee, was released from Korydallos prison in Athens earlier today.  Bail was set at EUR 5,000. Mardini’s request for release from pre-trial detention was granted yesterday, after 106 days in prison. Sara and Sean Binder, a German citizen who was also released, worked as sea rescue volunteers on Lesbos. They were arrested on August 21, 2018 on accusations of human smuggling, membership in a criminal organization, spying, and money laundering. Sara and Sean still face charges and a possible prison sentence.

Kondylia Gougou, Amnesty International’s Greece Researcher commented: “Whilst we welcome the news that these dedicated humanitarians will be back with their families after more than 100 days behind bars, the fact that they still face absurd charges and potentially long prison sentences is an outrage … People who selfless[ly] act in these ways should be lauded, not imprisoned. These baseless charges should be dropped.”

“We are very happy and look forward to welcoming Sara back home in the next few days,” said Florian Becker, Managing Director of Bard College Berlin. “However, our student’s release came only after the presentation of copious evidence which, in our view, disproves the allegations against her in their entirety. Much damage has already been done. We will continue to press for the charges to be dropped.”

Sara and her sister Yusra Mardini, who participated as one of 10 athletes on the “Refugee Olympic Team” in Rio in 2016, became internationally known because they saved the lives of the other 18 forced migrants in their life raft by swimming their water-logged boat to the Greek coast during their own flight across the Mediterranean in 2015.

Sara Mardini became a student at Bard College Berlin in August 2017 when she was awarded a full scholarship under the Program for International Education and Social Change (PIESC), aimed at students from regions of crisis or conflict. Currently there are 32 PIESC students enrolled at Bard College Berlin from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Greece, Eritrea and Brazil.

Sara Mardini Released on Bail (press release)>>
Sara Mardini gegen Kaution freigelassen (Pressemitteilung)>>

Amnesty International: Smuggling charges against humanitarian workers who saved refugees in Greece must be dropped>>
Human Rights Watch: Saving Lives at Sea Should Not Earn Time in Jail>>​​​​​​​
Sara Mardini's case in the international press and in statements from other organizations>>


November 27, 2018: Sara Mardini receives finalist prize of the 2018 MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award
BCB student Sara Mardini, imprisoned in Greece since August 2018 for refugee aid work, and her sister & Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini have recently been selected among the finalists of the 2018 MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award.

The Disobedience Award was created in 2017 and recognizes individuals and groups "who engage in ethical, nonviolent acts of disobedience in service of society."

The award committee praised Sara and Yusra's gesture to rescue their fellow refugees when their boat capsized during their journey to Europe in 2015 as well as their subsequent efforts in helping other refugees. The value of the finalist prize is $10,000.

Read more about the award>>


November 5, 2018: Human Rights Watch issues statement about Sara Mardini and fellow volunteers
In a recent coverage of BCB student Sara Mardini and her fellow volunteers' arrest in Greece for refugee aid work, Human Rights Watch considers the accusations brought against them "entirely unfounded."

Greece: Rescuers at Sea Face Baseless Accusations>>


October 20, Berlin: Demo in solidarity with BCB student Sara Mardini and her fellow volunteers currently detained in Greece
Bard College Berlin in cooperation with Nadja López, the initiative #FreeHumanitarians, Seebrücke - Schafft sichere Häfen! and Seebrücke Berlin held on October 20, 2018 a demonstration in solidarity with Sara Mardini and her fellow volunteers Nassos Karakitsos and Seán Binder, currently held in detention in Greece for their refugee rescue work.

The crowd marched from Alexanderplatz to Brandenburger Tor, where participants held up signs against the criminalization of rescue workers and demanded Sara, Nassos, and Seán's release from prison. Stage performances were offered by musicians Gülina, Monolink, among others, as well as Theater X / JugendtheaterBüro Berlin. 

Videos from the demonstration>>
More information (PDF)>>
Link to the Facebook event>>


August 29, 2018: Syrian Refugee Student from Bard College Berlin Arrested in Greece for Rescuing Refugees from Aegean Waters
Berlin - Sara Mardini, a 23-year-old Syrian refugee student and scholarship recipient of Bard College Berlin, was arrested in Greece last Tuesday, August 21, 2018. She was on her way back from Lesbos to Germany to resume her studies after a period of several months’ service as a volunteer rescuing refugees in Greek waters. Sara and Sean Binder, a German citizen and fellow volunteer, who was also arrested, are in detention and have been accused of human trafficking, membership in a criminal organization, spying, and money laundering.

Sara and her sister Yusra Mardini, who participated as one of 10 athletes on the “Refugee Olympic Team” in Rio in 2016, became internationally known because they saved the lives of the other 18 forced migrants in their life raft by swimming their water-logged boat to the Greek coast during their own flight across the Mediterranean in 2015.

“We are in close contact with Sara’s legal counsel and these charges seem more about halting the operations of the NGO in question than about any actions of Sara or her fellow volunteer,” said Dr. Florian Becker, Managing Director of Bard College Berlin. “A long period of imprisonment in Greece awaiting a potential trial would be devastating for Sara and her life plans. We will leave no stone unturned to get Sara released from prison, so that she can spend this time in Berlin and continue her studies, which she has earned with so much difficulty.”

After their arrival in Germany, Sara and Yusra continued to be engaged as volunteers, demonstrating great personal commitment to the interests of refugees. Sara was invited as a speaker by Harvard University and Dartmouth College; her sister spoke before the UN General Assembly and with personalities like Pope Francis and Barack Obama.

Sara Mardini became a student at Bard College Berlin in August 2017 when she was awarded a full scholarship under the Program for International Education and Social Change (PIE-SC). The PIE-SC scholarship program is aimed at promising students from regions of crisis or conflict. Currently there are 30 PIE-SC students enrolled in the two B.A. degrees at Bard College Berlin – 27 Syrians, one Iraqi, one Afghan and one Greek student.

Link to press release>>

On November 30, 2018, a group of Syrian students in BCB’s Program of International Education and Social Change and faculty & staff representatives visited the Bundestag where they had a conversation with Franziska Brantner, the foreign policy speaker of the parliamentary group of the Green Party.

The students presented their own activities working with and for civil society in those areas in Syria that were/are not (yet) controlled by Assad. In light of the current cutting of Western funds for civil society structures in these areas, the students highlighted these structures’ desperate struggle for survival. Brantner and the students also discussed the criminal prosecution of Syrian war criminals in Germany and how to communicate in Germany that an opportunistic “peace“ with Assad will eventually rebound upon Western societies.

On April 23-26, 2018 Bard College Berlin representatives Kerry Bystrom (Associate Dean) and Xenia Muth (Civic Engagement Coordinator) participated in the Scholars at Risk (SAR) Network 2018 Global Congress in Berlin, jointly convened by Scholars at Risk, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and Freie Universität Berlin.

The 2018 Global Congress brought together 600 scholars and higher education representatives from 72 countries to discuss the topic The University and the Future of Democracy. The participants not only reflected on the current crisis of liberal democratic societies and how this threatens researchers and academics worldwide, but also highlighted the idea that scholarly community as a whole has a role and responsibility to “develop, explain, and defend” democratic values. Keynote addresses were held by Susanne Baer (LLM, Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany), Judith Butler (University of California, Berkeley), and Markus Hilgert (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin). 

BCB's Civic Engagement Coordinator Xenia Muth presented in the frame of a panel on welcoming refugee students to German higher education institutions, organized by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The discussants focused on the situation of undergraduate students who had no access to or had to interrupt their studies in their home country, and who, thanks to programs such as those established by the DAAD, were able to enter universities in Germany and to integrate successfully in the new educational environment. Muth explained BCB’s efforts to enable refugee students to enroll in a BA program through its PIESC scholarships, as well as the college’s use of the DAAD Welcome fund in the past two years to open the campus and its resources to the neighborhood and to migrants.  

Associate Dean Kerry Bystrom was part of a panel about student law clinics and advocacy seminars, in which she presented the work of the Critical Human Rights and Humanitarian Advocacy/Scholars at Risk course held at BCB in the Spring semester 2018.

SAR 2018 Global Congress Press Release
Read more about the SAR 2018 Global Congress 

Bard College Berlin student Karam Alhamad (BA 2020) will participate in two panels at the conference OEB Global 2017 - Learning Uncertainty, which will take place on December 6-8, 2017 in Berlin. 

OEB (Online Educa Berlin) is a global, multi-sector conference on technology supported learning and training. Each year, OEB brings together policy makers, higher education leaders, chief learning officers, technology & learning experts, learning and development professionals, change managers, ICT administrators, online learning curriculum designers to push boundaries, challenge preconceptions and catalyse new ideas – through innovations in the exhibition, interventions and new forms of dialogue. 
In the frame of the conference, Karam will discuss the situation of Syrian students inside and outside Syria, drawing on his own experience and on his work as researcher, in a panel entitled "Delivering Tech-enabled Learning Opportunities to Displaced People: Near Home, On the Move, and Within Europe," and in a World Café session titled "Education ‘in transit’".

Read more about the conference

An article co-written by Bard College Berlin student Karam Alhamad (BA 2021) with Vera Mironova (International Security Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School) and Ekaterina Sergatskova (Russian journalist) was recently published by Foreign Affairs. Titled "The Lives of Foreign Fighters Who Left ISIS," the piece centers on foreign fighters who have escaped ISIS and on their current lives in hiding. Drawing on conversations with current and former Russian-speaking fighters, the authors discuss the reasons to leave and how the profiles of foreign fighters who have fled ISIS have changed over time. Link to full article