About MedMA

Dr Markos Karavias is the Director of the Mediterranean Migration and Asylum Policy Hub. Dr Karavias practises law at the Athens Bar Association, having led counsel on human rights and asylum law cases before domestic and European courts.

Dr Karavias has served as the lead negotiator on the EU Migration and Asylum Pact on behalf of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. Between 2018 and 2021, he served as the Director, then Governor, of the Asylum Service of the Hellenic Republic, and in this capacity, as a Member of the EUAA Management Board. Between 2014 and 2018, he held various academic positions at the Faculties of Law of the Universities of Amsterdam and Utrecht. Dr Karavias has further acted as a Member of the Asylum Appeals Committees of the Ministry of Citizen Protection (2011-2012). Markos Karavias studied law at the Universities of Athens and Oxford, where he completed his doctoral dissertation. He is the author of Corporate Obligations in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2013), as well as of numerous academic publications in international law.

Eleni Takou is a Senior Policy and Research Officer at the MedMA. Eleni is an expert on migration and hate crime, anti-racist advocacy and strategic communication. She has been Co-founder and Deputy Director of HumanRights360; she has also worked in the Advocacy and Programs sector of several NGOs, including the Hellenic League for Human Rights and SolidarityNow. During 2015, she has served as Chief of Staff of the Minister for Migration Policy. Prior to this, she has been coordinating the Racist Violence Recording Network, a coalition of CSOs under the auspices of UNHCR Office in Greece and the Greek National Commission for Human Rights; she has also been a consultant on issues of statelessness for UNHCR in Greece. She is co-writer of the book Immigration in Greece. Eleven myths and more facts, published by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, and co-editor of XthemOut: The Black Map of Racist Violence (Topos editions).

Manos Moschopoulos is a migration policy and democracy expert with over fifteen years of progressive leadership in international NGOs, foundations, and organizations. He has worked with governments, local authorities, and civil society organizations to uphold Europe’s protection regime and strengthen the resilience of host communities in areas with high levels of transit migration. He also worked to create pathways to protection for Afghan women leaders and enhance Europe’s response to displacement from Ukraine. Earlier in his career, Manos led youth engagement programs and taught public speaking in Europe, Asia, and Africa. His insights have been featured in major outlets, including the BBC, Euronews, Al Jazeera, and The Independent. Manos holds an MA in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies from the University of London.

Giota Panou is a Research Officer at MedMA. Her research interests involve the negotiations for the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, as well as international and European relations. She has worked as a caseworker and team leader in the Greek Asylum Service (2013-2018) responsible for handling applications for international protection of residents from sub-Saharan African countries as well as from Russia, Georgia and from the Balkan region. Giota Panou has worked as an administrative assistant in the Office of the Director of the Asylum Service (2018-2021) and in the Office of the Minister of Migration and Asylum (2021- 2024). She participated in the 6th Summit of Ministers of Migration and Interior of the Med 5 group (Thessaloniki, 2023). Giota has studied English Language and Literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and holds a Msc in Cultural Unit Management (HOU).