Irregular migration journeys : women asylum seekers in Athens, Greece

Abstract

My research aims to understand the lived experiences of the contemporary and ongoing migration journeys of women arriving “irregularly” in Greece. By collecting qualitative data through interviews with asylum seekers who have arrived in Greece I could start to develop an understanding of the obstacles in the process of asylum seeking and the impact of the surrounding policies, from the point of view of those who have experienced them. This research focuses on the lived experiences of arrival, asylum claiming, transiting or settling of women in Athens with a focus on the obstacles they experienced and how they responded. My thesis seeks to assess the effects of the multiple and diverse "raising" of European borders on asylum seekers and the effects this has had on women that have fled their home countries, arrived in Athens and become involved with the Melissa Network for Migrant Women.