Migrants In Greece Research Articles

Interventions’ transferability assessment to strengthen Vaccination Uptake Among Migrants in Greece

Abstract Background Migrant children in Greece face significantly lower vaccination coverage rates for MMR and HPV compared to their counterparts. To address this disparity, our research focuses on selecting and adapting evidence-based interventions tailored to the specific needs of different migrant communities staying in Greece, guided by the PIET-T framework. Methods Using a stakeholder-engaged approach, we involved 26 key stakeholders to select evidence-based interventions relevant to the Greek context. These interventions underwent detailed analysis, considering their effectiveness, cultural appropriateness, and potential for transferability within the PIET-T framework. Key stakeholders provided input on intervention feasibility and country- and context-specific adaptation. Results Three interventions were identified as promising for MMR and HPV vaccination uptake: two health promoter interventions and a school-based vaccination one. The health promoter intervention was adapted so to involve health professionals and trusted community members delivering culturally sensitive education and navigation support, addressing barriers such as language and lack of information. The original school-based program implements education sessions and on-site vaccinations, leveraging the trusted environment of schools to reach parents and children. On-site vaccinations were omitted since they were not relevant to the Greek context due to legal barriers. Conclusions Our stakeholder-engaged approach, guided by the PIET-T framework, ensures interventions are tailored to the specific needs and contexts of different migrant communities in Greece. By prioritizing cultural sensitivity and community involvement, we aim to enhance MMR and HPV vaccination uptake and improve health outcomes among migrant populations.

Language practices and identity construction on Facebook in the aftermath of Brexit: The case of a group of British migrants in Greece applying for Greek citizenship

This article examines the digital language practices in a Facebook group of seven British migrants, who live in Greece and have applied for Greek citizenship, throughout March 2021, in the aftermath of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union. More specifically, it uses online ethnography to analyse the ways with which group members use language and construct identity through their public posts and comments. Although research into the digital language practices and identity construction of Greek migrants has been carried out, no such research exists in the case of British migrants residing in Greece. It will be shown how group members’ use of both Greek and English, as well as creative examples of code switching for the purpose of conveying concepts to other members, offers insight into how the group under study use language to position themselves in relation to both Greece and the Greek citizenship application process, as well as to other members who possess varying degrees of linguistic competency in Greek.

Point-of-care diagnostics for sexually transmitted infections among migrants in Greece.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can impact individuals of any demographic. The most common pathogens causing STIs are Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhea and Trichomonas vaginalis; these can be treated with specific antibiotics. To compare the GeneXpert CT/NG test-and-treat algorithm to the syndromic approach algorithm and their impact on antibiotic prescription for gonorrhoea and chlamydia STIs. A retrospective observational study on women aged ≥18 years who accessed the Médecins Sans Frontières Day Care Centre in Athens with complaints related to urogenital infections between January 2021 and March 2022. Women with abnormal vaginal discharge, excluding clinically diagnosed candidiasis, were eligible for Xpert CT/NG testing. Of the 450 women who accessed care, 84 were eligible for Xpert CT/NG testing, and only one was positive for chlamydia, therefore resulting in saving 81 doses of ceftriaxone and azithromycin, and 19 doses of metronidazole. The cost of Xpert CT/NG testing, including treatment was €4,606.37, while full antibiotic treatment would have costed €536.76. The overall cost of the Xpert CT/NG test-and-treat algorithm was higher than the syndromic approach. However, quality of care should be weighed against the potential benefits of testing and syndromic treatment to determine the best option for each patient; we therefore advocate for decreasing the costs.

Challenging normative influences in refugee and migrant education: Reflections of a trainee teacher cohort

This study reports how participants in an MA course on language education for refugees and migrants in Greece engaged in meaning-making during their teaching placements. The reflections of 33 trainee teachers (elicited in 2021–2022) were thematically analysed using ecological theory. These show how participants negotiated the transition between the ‘ecologies of ideas’ of the postgraduate programme and the locus of their teaching placement. When placed in challenging teaching environments, participants reverted to ‘safer’ practices and performative teaching, which satisfied course requirements. However, growing confidence helped some participants to challenge normative expectations and develop more empowering ways to teach.

Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants in Greece and Italy: Language Requirements and Learning Opportunities in L2 Greek and L2 Italian

Migration has almost always been accompanied by language-related processes and concerns. Integration dimensions interact with numerous language-related issues, such as language requirements and learning opportunities, and the purpose of our paper is situated in the broader field of linguistic integration of adult refugees and migrants in Greece and Italy. Greece and Italy share a double role both as host and transition countries, as two of the main EU entry points for refugees and migrants since the 2015 refugee crisis, and therefore they have been selected as two suitable cases to be further explored. This paper aims to give an overview of the language requirements and language-learning opportunities in the migration context in Greece and Italy. Through our comprehensive review of language requirements and language-learning opportunities in Greece and Italy, we have undertaken an examination of the two contexts employing a comparative approach to scrutinize the processes of linguistic integration. The information presented has shown that similar linguistic requirements are set in both countries although the use and implementation of the Knowledge of Society (KoS) tests seem to discriminate between the two contexts. The results agree with similar findings through indexes such as the Language Policy Index for Migrants (LAPIM) and the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX).

Masculine borders as alienation of racialized, undocumented south Asian migrant workers in Greece

ABSTRACT Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistani low-class male migrants in Greece are marked by migrant precarity due to their undocumented status and by a flattened South Asian racialised masculine identity. Collectively othered, they struggle with symbolic borders created by colonial and postcolonial encounters, national identities, religion, and masculine expectations. This article explores how ideologies of prejudice and divisiveness in Greece work in tandem with articulations of othering and national (un)belonging from the men’s home countries to define both their interpersonal relationships and labour outcomes in Greece. It proposes the concept of ‘masculine borders’ to describe processes through which culturally specific masculinities of South Asian men are (re)produced or reconfigured relationally and hierarchically to each other by the capitalist project with the aim of alienating and discipling workers. With such everyday bordering discourses, a novel articulation of Marxian alienation of workers from each other emerges. In this case, masculine norms mesh with Islamophobia and racism to thicken masculine borders between Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian men, assisting in the efficient accumulation of surplus by the capitalist class.

A Multi-Method Profiling of Adult Refugees and Migrants in an L2 Non-Formal Educational Setting: Language Needs Analysis, Linguistic Portraits, and Identity Texts

This paper will attempt to visualize adult refugees and migrants, as well as a specific multilingual and multicultural educational setting in Greece. This study aspires to depict/present the plurilingual profiles, language needs, and challenges of L2 Greek students through a variety of tools/methods, e.g., questionnaires, portraits, narratives, needs analysis, and assessment tools. In a complementary way, this research focuses on highlighting the value of language portraits, identity texts, and translanguaging in L2 Greek classrooms. Conditions regarding the educational process in the specific educational setting will also be discussed. This was a case study conducted in an open school for migrants in Greece. Eight volunteer teachers at the school and twenty students participated in this research through a multimethod research design. Multilingual profiles and learners’ needs and goals became visible, and the teachers managed to “hear” the multilingual voices of their students and understand their multilingual profiles. Overall, it is clear that these findings pave the way for large-scale research to investigate in depth everything presented in this research. Using language portraits and identity texts as group activities helps to conduct a productive discussion in the classroom, through which students gain access to the use of concepts such as “multilingualism”, “multiculturalism”, and “diversity”.

Where do Critical Pedagogy and Language Needs Analysis meet? English as an Additional Language for Adult Refugees and Mi-grants in Greece: A Case Study

Background. Language classes organized for adult refugees and migrants are heterogeneous. Students in these educational settings differ across a number of various aspects, including language competences, educational background and levels of literacy. Seen through the Critical Pedagogy lens language is considered not simply as a means to express or communicate, but as a product constructed by the ways language learners recognise themselves, their social surroundings, their histories, and their potentialities for the future.
 Purpose. The purpose of our study is to unfold and identify the language needs of a specific group of migrants learners learning English as an additional language in Greece, where English is not the dominant language. We will try to focus and analyse language needs through the critical pedagogy lens and thus make the whole procedure an empowerment tools for the adult refugees and migrants.
 Method. As a case study, this study follows a qualitative research design. Τhis small-scale study focuses on a specific target group of language learners and their needs and attitudes towards learning. Class observations, field notes, interviews with the participants and questionnaires with open-ended questions were used as main methodological tools.
 Results. The present article examines the needs of a group of immigrant adult learners attending English language classes at a non-formal educational setting located in Greece. The participants come from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds and the majority of them speak Greek fluently since they have resided in Greece for a long time. A focal point throughout the process was students’ greater involvement in the learning procedure and decision-making processes regarding the content and the presentation of the educational material.
 Conclusion. Although the systematic needs analysis revealed that the reasons for participation and competence levels among participants varied a lot, a common goal for everyone was achieving oral fluency in the target language. Moreover, the results of this attempt were expressed n terms of learners’ contributions, willingness to share their stories, even to talk about difficulties they met and caring about their classmates’ stories. Thus, we suggest that the incorporation of personal experience in the learning process, not only functions as a link between students and language but also a process for team bonding and motivation.

An Albanian Ethnolect of Modern Greek? Testing the Waters Perceptually

Ethnolects have been defined as varieties linked to particular ethnic minorities by the minorities themselves or by other ethnic communities. The present paper investigates this association between ethnic groups and language varieties in the Greek context. I seek to answer whether there is an association made (by Albanians or Greeks) between Albanian migrants in Greece and a particular variety that is not their L1, i.e., Albanian, and if so, whether this is an Albanian ethnolect of Greek. I show experimentally that, in fact, there is a variety of Greek that is linked with listeners’ perceptions of Albanian migrants. However, that criterion is not enough in itself to designate the variety as an ethnolect as the acquisition of this variety by the second or subsequent generations of migrants is not evidenced. Rather, those generations are undergoing language shift from Albanian to Greek. Therefore, the classification of Albanian Greek as an Albanian ethnolect of Greek is not possible despite the association between the variety and the particular minority in Greece. Classification as an L2 Greek variety or a Mock Albanian Greek (MAG) variety is instead argued.

Migrants in Greece and mental health issues

IntroductionMigration is a difficult and painful process for individuals, since they could no longer rely on the supportive structures of their own country that would help them develop resilience and mental well-being, on the one hand and, on the other hand, they may be obliged to find a new identity and adapt to a new social context.ObjectivesTo identify mental health issues in migrants in Greece.MethodsA literature review has been made through PubMed database.Results First-generation immigrants exhibited an increased risk of poor mental health including increased levels of depression, post-traumatic disorder and anxiety compared to local population. When immigrants come to a new country, they often experience culture shock, significantly influencing their mental health. The term “culture shock” describes feelings of weakness and a state of disorientation of individuals living in a new environment as well as the difficulties they face in the process of their adapting to the new conditions. Individuals lack a social supportive environment while experiencing lack of acceptance, as well as social discrimination, economic exploitation and racism by local society. Additionally, their cultural background can influence and differentiate the way they perceive, react and cope stressful conditions.ConclusionsFor the smooth completion of the cultural process, mutual adaption to the new conditions of both migrants and host society is needed, focusing on the understanding of different cultural heritage, as well as on the respect and recognition of rights of both sides.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Aspirations, agency and well‐being of Romanian migrants in Greece

AbstractMigration is considered a meaningful strategy whereby both migrants and nonmigrants can improve their well‐being and their livelihoods. The paper emphasizes the migrants' own perspective and sheds light on movers' noneconomic drivers. The concept of aspirations is treated as a ‘missing link’ that allows research into migration at its intersection with social inequalities, hierarchies and diversity. The paper's main aim is therefore to elucidate Romanian migrants' aspirations and to illustrate how these aspirations are informed by their agency and reflect their well‐being both during and after the economic recession in Greece. Romanian migration provides sufficient grounds to invoke a more nuanced approach to migrants' well‐being, which takes their ‘dreams of fantasy’ into account, along with their subjective experiences of inequalities and multiple belonging. This paper frames migrants' well‐being theoretically as a relational process, but also in terms of the socio‐spatial arrangements of migrant mobility/immobility acts. Romanians' narratives are analysed in relation to their social trajectories, spatial movement(s) and settlement patterns during their international and internal journey(s).

Using indigenous sport as resistance against migrant exclusion: Kabaddi and South Asian male migrants in Greece

ABSTRACT This article discusses a unique cultural politics of identity affirmation and resistance enacted in the rural spaces of Greece by male migrants from India and Pakistan through the game of Kabaddi, a rural indigenous sport. Drawing on interviews with South Asian migrant men and observation of Kabaddi tournament in Greece, it argues that the play of Kabaddi offers deliberate performative acts of masculine resistance against the emasculatory bordering regimes of illegality, deportability and racial otherness. Kabaddi tournaments occur as highly masculinised, public, collective, celebratory, yet potentially subversive spectacles. Kabaddi allows South Asian migrant men to acquire culturally specific masculine capital through displays of muscular masculinity. As spectators and participants, they collectively engage in cultural affirmation and wresting subjectivity against bordering regimes that subjugate racialised migrant men into (im)mobility, enforce labour disciplining and invisibility and emasculate them into abjectivity.

Nativism and second-generation migrants in Greece: differentiating between ethnic and civic elements of citizenship

ABSTRACT The Greek citizenship model, for its biggest part, has been on the ethnocultural path. In 2010, the ethnocultural character of Greek citizenship became antagonized by Law 3838/2010. According to the law, migrant children born or schooled in the country had an automatic right to the acquisition of Greek citizenship. This paper investigates parliamentary and legal debates on citizenship during the period 2009–2015. It brings to the fore a nativist (ethnicized) discourse and other linked stories, which were voiced by certain political actors and promoted a clear differentiation between ethnic and civic elements of Greek citizenship. Accordingly, migrant children born or schooled in the country could acquire the civic elements of Greek citizenship but not the ethnic ones. The enactment of these discourses can be seen as a manifestation of nativism within an increasingly nationalistic political landscape under conditions of intense economic crisis.

The impact of COVID-19 on migrants in Greece: a retrospective analysis of national data

BackgroundFor 56,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Reception and Identification Centres (RICs) and Reception Sites (RS) in Greece, living in severely substandard living conditions, prevention measures have been severely limited. We assessed the impact of COVID-19 on migrants in these settings.MethodsWe did a retrospective analysis of policy documents and national surveillance data to identify COVID-19 outbreaks and estimate incidence among migrants residing in these camps (26th Feb - 15th Nov 2020). Incidence proportion (IP) of COVID-19 confirmed cases was calculated for three population groups (migrant populations in RICs, migrant populations in RSs, and the general population in Greece) during three time periods (first wave, second wave, and overall across the 9-month period).Results25 outbreaks were identified in migrant reception facilities, with 6 (85.7%) of 7 RICs and 18 (56.3%) of 32 RSs reporting at least one outbreak during the study period. The overall 9-month COVID-19 IP among refugee and asylum seeker populations residing in RSs on the Greek mainland was 1,758 cases per 100,000 population; in RICs the incidence was 2,052 cases per 100,000 population. Compared to the general population the risk of COVID-19 infection among migrants in reception facilities was 2.5 to 3 times higher; the risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection was higher among migrant populations in RSs on the Greek mainland (IP ratio: 2.45; 95% CI: 2.25-2.68) but higher still among migrant populations in RICs in the Greek islands and the land border with Turkey (IP ratio: 2.86; 95% CI: 2.64-3.10), where living conditions are particularly poor.ConclusionsWe identified high levels of COVID-19 transmission among migrants in reception facilities in Greece, with immediate implications for policy and practice to ensure refugee and asylum seeker populations are included in national response plans to reduce transmission, alongside ensuring their inclusion in plans for COVID-19 vaccine roll out.Key messages Thousands of migrants in Greece live in severely substandard conditions and largely excluded from the COVID-19 response.We identified high levels of COVID-19 transmission among migrants in reception facilities in Greece, with immediate implications for policy and practice.

Appraisal of a Contact Tracing Training Program for COVID-19 in Greece Focusing on Vulnerable Populations.

Background: Contact tracing as an epidemiological strategy has repeatedly contributed to the containment of various past epidemics and succeeded in controlling the spread of disease in the community. Systematic training of contact tracers is crucial in ensuring the effectiveness of epidemic containment. Methods: An intensive training course was offered to 216 health and other professionals who work with vulnerable population groups, such as Roma, refugees, and migrants in Greece, by the scientific team of the postgraduate programme “Global Health-Disaster Medicine” of the Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, with the support of the Swiss embassy in Greece. The course was delivered online due to the pandemic restriction measures and was comprised of 16 h over 2 days. The course curriculum was adapted in Greek using, upon agreement, a similar training course to what was developed by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Evaluation of the course was conducted in order to determine the short term satisfaction from participating in this training course. Results: A total of 70% of the course participants completed the evaluation questionnaires and all trainers gave feedback on the course. The training modules were ranked as extremely useful by the majority of the participants and over 50% of the participants specifically stated that the course content was directly related to their work with vulnerable groups. Content about the ethics of contact tracing and the effective communication skills presented were deemed most useful. Conclusion: The course was well organised and provided the required skills for effective contact tracing. Many course participants intend to use some components in their work with vulnerable populations groups. Contact tracing efforts work best in a systematic and coordinated way and the provision of systematic and organised training can greatly increase its effectiveness.

New migrant activism: Frame alignment and future protest participation

New migrant movements increasingly rely on unconventional forms of protest, which they strategically frame in rational terms, rather than as ‘acts of desperation’ that dominate public representations. This article demonstrates this empirically through a prototypical case of new migrant activism, employing discourse analysis to explore the collective framing of a hunger strike involving irregular migrants in Greece, which was, however, contested by other protest users. Drawing on rare and pertinent data collected through face-to-face interviews with hunger strikers, we find that the strategic or rationalist framing of the hunger strike, promoted by its leaders, was largely shared with individual protesters at the basis of the mobilisation, contrary to the publicly proliferated affective frames. Using quantitative methods, we show, for the first time, that the degree of frame alignment is not only important for the legitimacy of a movement but is also a significant predictor of future remobilisation in radical types of protest activity.

Mixed Services and Mediated Deservingness: Access to Housing for Migrants in Greece – CORRIGENDUM

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From Labour Migrants to a Diaspora Community? The Case of Ukrainian Migrants in Greece

This paper discusses transnational labour migration from Ukraine to Greece since the end of the Cold War. It examines the migration context, motivations, and expectations. It then discusses the actual experiences of Ukrainian migrants, in Greek society and beyond, and their visions for the future. The paper touches upon the 2008 crisis in Greece and its impact on migrants and their choices. The paper also discusses the social organisation of Ukrainian migrants in Greece, as well as identity and belonging, in a globalised world. Whereas many Ukrainian migrants continue to perceive their stay in Greece as temporary, the emergence of a Ukrainian diaspora community in Greece is imminent. The paper is based on primary research conducted by the author in greater Athens, as well as secondary sources.

Recouping masculinity: Understanding the links between macho masculinity and self-exploitation among undocumented South Asian male migrants in Greece

The article situates, centre stage, the process by which temporary labour regimes utilize culturally specific masculine norms of undocumented migrant men to enforce labour docility and accumulate greater capital. It draws upon the example of undocumented Pakistani and Bangladeshi men working in orange orchards and strawberry fields in Greece, who pit their masculinity against one another through fruit-picking contests. South Asian male migrants, emasculated and marginalised by their illegality and precarity of work, attempt to rework their masculine status through such self-exploitative contests. These competitions, predicated on the neoliberal individualizing of workers and their success, displace exploitation by linking piece-rate earnings to muscular masculinity and individual capacity. Fruit-picking contests are an efficient and creative labour management practice wherein fluid masculine subjectivities are harnessed to weed out “inefficient” workers, subdue labour unrest, erode worker solidarity, and maximise labour extraction without adopting overt labour disciplinary mechanisms.

Albanians in Greece and the social meaning of ethnolectal features in L2 Greek

Albanian migrants in Greece constitute the largest ethnic minority in the country, amounting to roughly 5% of the total population. The reception of these Albanian migrants has not been smooth and rather has been marked by “extreme xenophobic and racist discourse” (Archakis 2020:5) towards the members of the ethnic community. This discourse is also evident online where it often takes the form of internet memes which target Albanians and their L2 Greek (Ndoci 2021, forthcoming a). In this paper I investigate the social perception of the features of this Albanian L2 Greek through a matched guise experiment. My findings show that individuals who produce Albanian L2 features in their Greek are negatively stigmatized, either overtly or covertly, similarly to the way in which Albanian migrants have been stigmatized in the Greek context. This stigmatization seems to be exhibited both by members of the ethnic group itself and by members of the host community (i.e. Greeks). Moreover, the two groups appear to have differential awareness of the systems of ethnic, regional, and accented Greek that is the product of their experience with the varieties.