The Refugee and Immigration Phenomenon in Lesvos (Greece) and the Attitudes of the Local Community

Book excerpt: The recent refugee and immigrant inflows from the Middle East, Northern Africa and Asia have become massive, and concern millions of people who attempt to be channelled into Europe through specific gateways in Southern-European areas. Among those, the Greek islands of the Eastern Aegean Sea, Lesvos and Chios, are serving as the main entrance-point for refugee and migration flows. This book highlights the attitudes of the residents of Mytilene, Lesvos, regarding the way the immigrant-refugee issue has affected their everyday lives and the economy of the island. It is based on a large-scale primary survey using statistical analysis and represented by appropriate statistical tables and figures that make the whole text engaging. As the issues investigated here are of great contemporary interest, academics, teachers, social scientists, students, policy makers, managers in the private sector, and NGOs will find the book interesting, informative and useful. The book will also prove a useful tool for a better policy implementation concerning recent massive migration flows towards Europe.