By Valeria Raimondi
From April to July 2024, I conducted field research in Greece. During this second major field work period, I aimed to deepen my understanding of key issues that emerged during previous research in the country. More specifically, I delved into the recent developments in the asylum system and their implications for the mobility of migrants, the closure and "securing" of camps, and the labour conditions of encamped migrants.
Athens was my base throughout the research, due to the presence of key governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in migrant management, as well as the accessibility of key research sites, namely the camps of Ritsona, Malakasa, and Thiva. I conducted interviews with key figures in the institutional management of migrants, engaged in in-depth conversations with migrants residing in the camps, and made official visits to reception facilities for asylum seekers. I also conducted repeated ethnographic observations in Viktoria Square, Athens, a crucial space for the migrant population in Greece.
In May, I undertook a two-week field trip to Northern Aegean, Turkey, and mainland Greece with Claudio Minca and Dragan Umek (See the report on that trip, here). Colleagues Yolanda Weima and Alexandra Rijke joined for the latter half of the research trip. Following the Second Workshop of TheGame in Athens, Yolanda remained in Greece and we conducted an additional week of collaborative research based in Athens.
Later in the research period, I undertook a one-week field trip to Chania, Crete, and Gavdos with Dr. Martina Tazzioli. We conducted several interviews with representatives of local institutions, the coast guard, and other stakeholders involved in the temporary reception of migrants. Since October 2023 both the small island of Gavdos and southern Crete have been experiencing increasingly frequent landings of people undertaking a new sea route from Libya to Greece.
In the weeks following my return to Athens, I visited the refugee camps of Attica multiple times, occasionally accompanying the Echo Mobile Library. I interacted with camp residents, and learned about their employment situations and living conditions within the reception facilities.