Thessaloniki : Profiling Survey of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Third Country Nationals Not Registered with the Asylum Service, 2019 (Greece)

Abstract

The closure of the so-called "Balkan route" and the EU-Turkey Statement in March 2016 changed Greece from a transit country to a country hosting a growing population of refugees and asylum seekers. To address the needs of this growing population staying on the Greek mainland, the Greek Government established Open Reception Facilities (ORFs) in Northern and Central Greece. In the beginning of 2016, UNHCR through its partners established urban accommodation schemes to host asylum seekers eligible for relocation as part of the European solidarity measures. The program evolved to focus on the most vulnerable asylum seekers for whom accommodation in the ORFs was unsuitable. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) set up a similar accommodation program in late 2016 also focusing on the most vulnerable. Arrivals at the Greek-Turkish land border increased in late 2017 and as a result a higher number of people started arriving directly to Thessaloniki, without having presented themselves to the authorities at the border. Hence, they were not registered by the Greek authorities and as a consequence lacked access to a dignified shelter, or other forms of basic assistance available to asylum seekers and refugees. The Municipality of Thessaloniki and the humanitarian community jointly decided to conduct a profiling exercise of the refugees and asylum seekers hosted in Thessaloniki as well as Third Country Nationals not registered with the Asylum Service in Thessaloniki. The objective was to explore the extent to which refugees and asylum seekers were moving towards local integration. This was done by looking at their outlook for the future as well as the obstacles and possibilities towards greater economic and socio-cultural integration in Greece. The analysis of persons with no asylum service documentation focused on the key challenges faced by those groups, such as lack of a regularized status and homelessness. The collected data would form a baseline for future integration monitoring and would additionally be a useful tool for the implementation of integration activities as foreseen in national and local strategies for integration. The survey included a total of 861 households. The survey found out that the great majority of refugees and asylum seekers in the accommodation scheme and in the ORF had been in Thessaloniki less than one year. The majority of the households in the accommodation scheme (60%) reported that they intended to stay in Thessaloniki in the long term, and one of the main conditions for being able to integrate locally is finding employment. Amongst the households in the ORF, less than half intended to stay in Thessaloniki (45%) and more than a third (38%) intended to move to another EU country. For those intending to stay, being able to integrate locally was very much linked to finding a different accommodation solution. The households having found their own accommodation were on average living longer in Thessaloniki, as almost half of them had lived in the city for more than one year compared to other groups who have been living in their majority in their accommodation for less than one year. This group of refugees and asylum seekers also included the biggest group reporting that they intended to stay in Thessaloniki longer term (76%). For them the main condition for local integration was access to employment and getting the status of international protection. Accessing employment as a key condition for local integration was also highlighted and confirmed during community consultations with asylum seekers and refugees.