The Role of Social Networks in Georgian Migration to Greece

Abstract

Social networks have been identified as a significant explanatory factor of migration. Apart from their role in prospective migrants’ decision-making with regards to both the decision to migrate and the choice of destination country, networks (co-ethnics as well as employers, recruitment agents, etc.) may assist in overcoming structural constraints as well as facilitate migrants’ settlement. In the case of Georgian migration, networks rooted in the early 1990s and the repatriation of Pontic Greeks play a vital role in Greece’s emergence as one of the main destinations for Georgian migrants. This paper examines the role of social networks in Georgian migration to Greece based on interviews with Georgian migrants in Greece, returned migrants in Georgia, and relevant stakeholders in both countries. The interviews were conducted in 2013–2014 under the auspices of the irma research project funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of Greece.