Racial and Ethnic Inequalities, Health Disparities and Racism in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic Populism in the EU: Unveiling Anti-Migrant Attitudes, Precarious Living Conditions and Barriers to Integration in Greece

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact particularly on the most vulnerable populations, including immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in the EU. The article depicts the results of the comparative research project “Local Alliance for Integration (LION/GSRI/University of West Attica/81018): Migrant and Refugee integration into local societies in times of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain and Greece” implementing a qualitative methodology. This article analyses via 32 in-depth interviews the experiences of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Greece, the increased barriers towards integration due to racial and ethnic inequalities, precarity and health disparities during this period which function as a means of perpetuating exclusion in five sectors: (a) formal employment, (b) healthcare, (c) formal education and language training, (d) housing and social care/protection, and (e) intercultural coexistence as well as the new rise of a hostile rhetoric and anti-migrant attitudes under a COVID-19 pandemic populism. The unravelling of the narratives revealed perceptions and practices of inequality and uncertainty as well as of hope. The socioeconomic impact of the pandemic on immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees, similarities and differences that occurred and evidence of the ongoing obstacles they encountered during the pandemic are presented. Policy and practice implications include the implementation of prevention measures by the institutions that are tasked with the responsibility to remove hindrances, address unequal treatment, racial/ethnic and social inequalities and raise awareness on multiple ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified vulnerability.

Harsh realities of female migration during the COVID epoch

“…In parallel, Anandhi and Deepa (2021) explain the vulnerable circumstances of the informal female workforce of Chennai who lost their jobs during the pandemic and engaged in domestic care work offering low wages without any job guarantees and benefits under welfare schemes like the Minimum Wage Guarantee Act and Workmen's Compensation Act. Fouskas, Koulierakis, Mine, et al (2022) deliver a report on the unsafe living conditions in the accommodation facilities of Greece, where the immigrants from the Middle East and Africa had to live in metal containers, depend on inedible meals, and thrive without any child support system. Kabeer et al (2021) notice that females in low‐income, unskilled jobs have encountered the most severe financial blow due to the pandemic.…”

Social Landscape, Peripheral Inclusion and Un-Practice: Concepts for Understanding Social Housing Daily Life in Open Spaces

“…They are also linked to culture and ideology. Thus, financial globalization has also generated more spatial and social polarization since the start of this century, sometimes related with migrations [12,13], economic crisis scenarios [3,4] and neoliberal city production models [14,15]. All of those elements are relevant challenges for Latin American countries [16,17].…”