The global financial crisis 2008 exacerbated Greece’s economic struggles, coinciding with a surge in refugees due to political unrest in the Middle East. This circumstance led to a complex crisis impacting healthcare access for both residents and refugees. The EU’s response, particularly the EU-Turkey Agreement, aimed to manage the flow of asylum seekers but faced criticisms for its effectiveness and lack of legal binding. Burdened by the crisis, Greece witnessed social solidarity through local NGOs and citizen-based groups. The transregional governance efforts revealed shortcomings in addressing refugee needs, prompting informal networks and NGOs to provide essential services. The crisis, initially seen as temporary, has become a permanent challenge for both refugees and Greeks, with healthcare access being a significant concern.
The governance provided by NGOs in Greece is a subject of debate due to potential funding conflicts and dependence on EU funding, impacting their autonomy. Historically less involved in voluntarism, the Greek civil society has seized opportunities arising from the austerity crisis. However, competition for funding has led to challenges and decreased reliance on political connections. The study focuses on Greece, particularly Lesvos, facing the burden of refugees. The healthcare system, strained by economic issues and the pandemic, depends on employment for access, exacerbating health inequalities. The case study highlights challenges in Lesvos, including inadequate healthcare, delays in legal assistance, and the struggle to integrate refugees. Various NGOs, such as METAdrasi, HIGGS, Mosaik Support Center, Lesvos Solidarity, and The Starfish Foundation, play crucial roles in providing services, though they face funding and resource challenges. The unique case of Greece, impacted by globalization, economic crisis, refugee movements, and the pandemic, urge the need for examination and solutions.
Refugees experience multiple traumas, face challenges in integration, and encounter employment issues. UNHCR highlights language barriers, slow integration, and the need for realistic policies. Various NGOs, local and international, provide insights into the refugee crisis, denouncing the EU-Turkey Agreement and addressing mental health needs with a focus on yoga-based interventions.
One commonality among many of these NGOs is the advocacy and offering of yoga. Yoga is seen as a cost-effective, evidence-based intervention for mental health issues in refugees and caregivers. It discusses the positive impact of yoga on trauma survivors, emphasizing its potential role in addressing cognitive, emotional, and physiological symptoms associated with trauma and PTSD. Scientific research suggests that yoga can benefit refugees, aid workers, and volunteers, promoting mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being at little to no cost.
Given shortages in healthcare and significant challenges to access to care, Policy Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in the context of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), focusing on yoga as part of this domain. Policy entrepreneurs are individuals or groups who use their knowledge to promote specific policy solutions. Private complementary medicine’s growing role in healthcare emphasizes the need for research on its socio-economic position. The argument is that the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health challenges in places like Lesvos create a policy window for yoga and CAM entrepreneurship.
Policy entrepreneurs are key players in initiating dynamic policy change, utilizing methods like issue reframing, networking, and coalition-building. The Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) is introduced to address complex issues like the refugee crisis. Policy entrepreneurs could leverage evidence-based practices like yoga to address mental health issues in refugee camps. Despite NGOs’ challenges in crises, the author sees opportunities for policy entrepreneurs to contribute solutions to mental health crises, mainly through cost-effective interventions like yoga. The creation of the International Day of Yoga and the pandemic are identified as policy punctuations that could bring yoga into focus on the legislative agenda. There is an unmet demand for mental healthcare in Greece, and conditions are favorable for building an advocacy coalition around CAM and yoga therapies to address mental health issues.
Full Article: Kanojia, A. (2023). Globalization, the Refugee Crisis, and the Pandemic: Yoga as a Health Intervention in the Context of Greece. International Journal of Indology, 1(2).
Image: Life jackets and boats on Lesbos from thousands of people trying to cross the sea to Europe. Photograph by Jim Black