Developing collaboratively a model of integration for asylum-seeking women in Greece

Abstract

This thesis focuses on understanding the integration needs of asylum-seeking women in Greece, by developing collaboratively recommendations for a new integration model, using the strategies of the Canadian refugee resettlement system as a point of departure. Through feminist action research in Greece, I explore the women’s own journeys to accessing better services for resettlement. Through focus group and workshop sessions, we embark upon a joint project of conceptualizing a resettlement system that better addresses the women’s needs.

Key findings indicate that successful integration of female asylum seekers in Greece is limited when there is a lack of access to information on the asylum process and limited availability of integration programs.

Overall, I conclude that, although the Canadian context and logistics of refugee integration is very different, there are useful Canadian resettlement policies which could be adapted to the Greek asylum-seeking integration framework to help solve some of these issues.