The
Context We Work In
The Refugee Situation in Greece
A large number of people seeking protection and asylum have been arriving in Greece since 2015. According to UN statistics, most of those affected come from Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine. In 2023, over 192,000 refugees, 35,000 asylum seekers and other ‘people of concern’, people who also fall under the UNHCR mandate, were registered in Greece. Around half of them are women and girls (see UNHCR factsheet Greece).
Following the boat tragedy off the coast of Messinia in June 2023, which led to the deaths of over 600 people, Greece was scrutinised by the EU Parliament for its practices at its borders. Frontex was also held accountable for past actions by the same institution, and the Ombudsman's Office investigated the Commission's complicity in funding illegal border operations. This was the same year when EU States took the first steps to remove key obstacles to a more significant agreement on the bloc’s asylum and migration rules by agreeing on a series of new procedures to handle immigration.
Despite the shock following the Messinia tragedy, immigration decisions conflated several critical issues affecting electoral outcomes in European states without consistently considering the necessity of upholding basic human rights principles such as dignity, fairness, equality, and respect. Demographic pressures, tense debates over questions of identity and integration, and questions about the management of the outer EU borders determined negotiations and decision-making regarding asylum and other immigration issues.
Deterrence, Containment and Exclusion retained their place as the three pillars of EU and State Immigration Policy and hopes for more dignified support of people who escaped war, violence, and persecution were once again crashed by extremist rhetoric and lack of consensus for more safe, dignified, and fair asylum system. Unable to cope, Greece has been operating a strict and oftentimes dysfunctional asylum and migration system that is also under system-wide strain. Border externalisation policies (initiated on March 18th, 2016, with latest development of this policy in October 2021), limited access to resources and an increasingly unfavourable reception both at the fringes of Europe and more centrally, have raised a multitude of issues ranging from Human Rights violations to practical problems such as scarce financial capability and accommodation security.
On the other side of the spectrum, humanitarian organisations operating in Greece continued the effort to implement programmes that effectively support social cohesion and help displaced people become self-sufficient.
The Greek asylum system operates on the premises that Turkey is a safe country for re-admission, but there has been no assumption of responsibility by Ankara Ankara - thus many asylum seekers remain in a state of oblivion on the arrival islands. In addition, displaced people in Greece face a suffocating paradox. Asylum seekers are affected by the implementation of territorial restrictions that keep people in a state of limbo on the islands close to the EU borders. At the same time, particularly vulnerable people and recognized refugees are sent to the mainland without being offered safety nets or concrete solutions for long-term integration. Either way displaced people are trapped in a vicious circle, and they not only feel but are literally powerless to fend for themselves and their loved ones.
The Unavoidable Consequences Are Numerous:
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The increase of the gap between directly affected local communities that are becoming more hostile with displaced people and humanitarian actors
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Displaced people are trapped in a state of limbo or alternatively a future with dim prospects of dignified survival
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The gradual transformation of reception centres to closed and controlled camps lead to the ghetoisation of refugee populations
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Stricter policies and state support limitations such as the termination of the already low financial aid to self-accommodated asylum seekers is another obstacle to the displaced peoples' efforts to be self-reliant and integrated
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As a result of the war in Ukraine, displaced people from other countries are currently being relocated from urban centers (Athens, Thessaloniki) to peripheral camps where there are little to no opportunities for employment
The Situation of Displaced Women in Greece
Limited access to resources, structural inadequacies, overburdened or collapsed safety nets, barriers to legal representation and health and reproductive services, are only some of the obstacles displaced women have to overcome. Their voices are silenced and their abilities undervalued. They are routinely faced with heightened risks of gender-based violence, homelessness and unemployment.
How We Help
SAO Association assists women in their quest to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity in their new host environment by addressing their needs to their root and working with them to overcome trauma and unfavourable conditions and perceptions.
We run two day centres in Athens and on Lesvos where we implement a Psychosocial Support Programme for single women, mothers, young girls, widows, members of large households, disabled women and elderly. We help them manage traumatic experiences, regain their strength and maximise their capacities and skills and support their efforts to forge a safe, independent and fulfilling life away from adversity, suffering, sexual and gender- based violence.
Our Approach
We assist displaced women to achieve inclusion and gain autonomy - an approach that requires complex solutions and a synthesis of responses. Our teams of professional women are qualified to address this complexity, forge alliances and explore sustainable options together with the women who chose to trust us at a critical stage of their lives.
SAO Association supports displaced women living in Greece with concrete, efficient, neutral, and ethical resources to create a sustainable future. We help them self-empower, become agents of change, remove barriers and achieve integration in their new homes.
