(Non-)Institutional Manifestations of Migrant Infrastructures for Refugees in Rural Greece

Papadopoulos, Apostolos G.; Fratsea, Loukia-Maria

doi:1429-7132 (print)

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Title: (Non-)Institutional Manifestations of Migrant Infrastructures for Refugees in Rural Greece

Abstract:

The year 2015 was a turning point for the migration and asylum system in the EU and Greece. Almost 900,000 migrants and refugees crossed Turkey’s land and sea borders on their way to Europe. The so-called ‘migration and refugee crisis’ dominated the academic and political discourse and provoked different reactions from local communities, civil society and long-time resident migrants. Especially in rural areas, the newly arriving refugees triggered different reactions from the local population. At the same time, accommodating the refugees and facilitating their integration into rural localities created additional infrastructure needs. Drawing on the theoretical discussion on migrant infrastructures’ and ‘arrival infrastructures’, the main objective of this paper is to discuss the different manifestations of migrant infrastructures in rural communities, in Western Greece in particular. The paper draws on a recent empirical study conducted in the framework of a project that explored territorial inequalities and the links with different forms of mobility in both urban (Attiki Region) and rural areas of Greece (Western Greece Region). While the discussion on arrival infrastructures mainly relates to urban settings, in this paper we argue that the rural context informs and enriches the debate, allowing to be considered in terms of non-fixed assemblages of institutional (formal) and non-institutional (informal) arrangements that fulfil both tangible and less tangible needs and requirements. Forging better links between the migration infrastructures approach and the formulation of imaginaries and characteristics of wellbeing will enable a better understanding of refugee agency, and one more informed by social theory

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