Cite as: Eleftheriadou, M., 2020, " Fight after flight? An exploration of the radicalization potential among refugees in Greece", Small Wars & Insurgencies, 31(1): 34-60, DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2020.1672960
Abstract
Drawing on a survey of asylum seekers, the article provides a security assessment of the ‘refugee experience’ in Greece. This exploration of the ‘refugee situation’ on Europe’s eastern shore touches upon refugees’ prior and present grievances, the local and imported ‘radical milieu’ and (Greek) host state’s will and capacity to implement sustainable and effective policies. The paper demonstrates that, although Greece lacks a developed radical milieu that could facilitate radicalization, Greece’s policy of ‘uninvolved tolerance’ creates a vacuum that might be filled by radical groups in the future. Also, with the exception of minors’ education, Greece scores low in most socio-economic indicators that delineate the ‘refugee experience’. In this environment, scarce employment opportunities and dependence on external sources for life-sustainment interweave with institutionalization and negative coping mechanisms. These silent and largely hidden from the public eye processes might become the ingredients of future radicalization.