Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cases of Bangladeshi, Filipina, Nigerian, Palestinian and Pakistani migrant workers and how the frame of their work and employment in precarious, low-status/low-wage jobs affects their perceptions and practices regarding health and access to healthcare services. Design/methodology/approach: Using qualitative research methodology, the analysis via in-depth interviews focuses on male Bangladeshi, Nigerian, Pakistani and Palestinian unskilled manual and textile laborers as well as street vendors, and female Filipina live-in domestic workers. Findings: Migrants are entrapped in a context of isolative and exploitative working conditions, i.e., in unskilled labor, textile work, street-vending, personal services, care and domestic work, which lead them to adopt a self-perception in which healthcare and social protection are not a priority. Social implications: Throughout the paper it has become clear that these precarious low-status/low-wage jobs have an important underside effect on migrants’ lives, intensifying labor and health instability and exposing migrants to employment-generating activities that do not guarantee health safety. In Greek society, the impact of migration on public health is characterized by many as a “time bomb ready to explode,” especially in urban centers. Meanwhile, the economy and particularly the informal sector of the labor market is benefiting from migrant workers. More research is needed as this mode of exploitative labor and precarious employment needs to be adequately addressed to mitigate barriers in the access of labor and healthcare rights. Originality/value: Via its contribution to the sociology of migration with particular emphasis on labor healthcare, the paper provides evidence that due to their concentration in precarious, low-status/low-wage jobs migrant workers have very limited access to healthcare services. The removal of inequalities and discrimination against migrant workers in accessing healthcare services and medical care is a challenge for South European Union countries and particularly for Greece. However, in spite of this, there is no uniform policy in the management of migrants with respect to their access to health services. The paper will aid debates between policy makers and academics working on migration and inequalities due to the division of labor and health disparities, will contribute to the understanding of the perils attached to precarious, low-status/low-wage jobs and in addressing health inequalities effectively.

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.

Medical tourism is a rapidly growing sector, and could become a major driver of tourism in Greece. This research examines the status quo and the potential of medical tourism on the island of Crete, Greece. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2021 to February 2022, with the administration of questionnaires. The study involved the participation of 97 hotel managers from four- and five-star hotels, 515 doctors representing various specialties, and 890 medical tourists. Hotel managers overwhelmingly (90+%) believe that medical tourism can significantly contribute to the domestic economy, as well as that the domestic market is ready for the provision of medical tourism services on a larger scale, while more than 70% of the tourists asked would be interested in travelling to Greece to receive medical treatment. IVF, eye surgery, and dental services are the ones that would interest tourists the most, which are also aligned with the services commonly provided by the doctors questioned. Thus, according to the perspectives of doctors, hotel managers, and tourists, medical tourism has the capacity to grow significantly and contribute to the development of the Greek economy. The government should assume a supportive role, facilitating medical tourism processes by addressing the administrative, financial, and promotional aspects.

This article examines the consequences of the economic crisis in Greece on the families and community organizations of migrant domestic workers. After spending more than a decade in individualized low-status jobs, migrant women are facing the effects of the economy on their primary and secondary solidarity groups, families, and communities. The research suggests that although this tendency is not new, it has been greatly exacerbated by the ongoing recession and has resulted in the emergence of new forms and perceptions of family and community. These changes further undermine the social position of migrant women, who were one of the most atomized and vulnerable sectors of the workforce even before the advent of the economic crisis.

The article centres on the repercussions low-prestige work has on the collective organization and representation of immigrant workers. This micro-sociological analysis focuses on the cases of Egyptian, Albanian, Bangladeshi, Palestinian, and Philippine immigrants in Athens and how the frame of their work and their employment affects their participation in their immigrant work associations. Evidence from in-depth interviews proves that the majority of immigrants do not claim established workers' rights and do not seek membership in any unions. On the contrary, they rely on a network of friends and relatives for support and develop individual behaviours and alternative solutions to achieve survival and protection.

This article examines the participation and representation of immigrants in local public life in Greece. Research evidence proves that there is significant delay in activating the institution in conjunction with a degradation of its operation. In many cases, the municipal authorities do not embrace the institution with the necessary trust and do not pursue its operation. Moreover, in 74% of the researched municipalities, not all immigrant populations in their jurisdiction are represented in the MICs and 56% of the immigrants who participated in the formation and operation of the MICs were not elected representatives of immigrant communities. There are severe problems of representation and participation of immigrants in their community associations which raise doubts as to their actual and official representation in the MICs too.