In recent years, the European Union’s and EU member states’ policies on migration and asylum have continued shifting towards an approach that prioritises the curtailment of the movement of refugees and migrants, both towards and within the EU (“onward movement”). This shift comes at the expense of refugees and migrants’ rights, while negatively impacting on local societies at the EU’s borders, which have continued being called to manage, in a disproportionate manner, the effects of a failed EU (hotspot) policy. Yet it is also counter-productive.
Through 41 interviews with people that had received international protection in Greece, the current report aims at providing some further, even if limited, insights into the counter-productivity of this policy approach, by highlighting some of the main choices refugees are faced with in pursuit of safety and dignity, through their own voices and experiences.
The report was drafted by the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), with the support of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Greece.
