Healthcare out of reach
A systematic literature review on the accessibility and utilization of healthcare services by bangladeshi migrants in Greece
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46661/ccselap-11588Parole chiave:
migrants, Bangladesh, health, access, inequality, GreeceAbstract
The migration of Bangladeshi nationals to Greece has surged in recent decades, with many entering the country undocumented and facing precarious work conditions. This study examines the impact of these living and work conditions on the health of Bangladeshi migrants, as well as their access to and utilization of healthcare services. Using the PRISMA method, a comprehensive literature review was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, revealing significant barriers faced by these migrants. Many work in hazardous environments for long hours, leading to detrimental health outcomes exacerbated by systemic inequalities, racism, and exploitation due to their undocumented status. Access to healthcare is severely limited, hindered by the lack of social security numbers, high costs, language barriers, and low health literacy. The systematic review highlights that particularly vulnerable groups, such as irregular refugees, experience the greatest exclusion from healthcare services. Overall, the findings indicate a pressing need for policy reforms in Greece to improve living and working conditions for migrants, ensuring that their health needs are met and their human rights are protected. A more inclusive and comprehensive approach is essential to address the challenges faced by Bangladeshi migrants in Greece.
Downloads
Riferimenti bibliografici
Barua, U. (2023). Bangladeshi Irregular Migration in Greece: Causes, Patterns, and Implications. In Mahendru, V. & Jawsal, P. (eds.), Recentring the Global South in Migration Studies (pp.58-79) Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement. https://tinyurl.com/bdefyfmn
Broersma, F., & Lazarescu, D. (2009). Pakistani and Bangladeshi Migration to Greece: "Chasing the dream". ELIAMEP. https://tinyurl.com/5n7tp5rw
Castañeda, H., Holmes, S. M., Madrigal, D., Young, M.E.D., Beyeler, N., & Quesada, J. (2015). Immigration as a social determinant of health. Annual Review of Public Health, 36:375-392https://tinyurl.com/7bxbhncx https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182419
Chanda, S. (2013). Migration and transnationalism-migrating people, migrating culture: optics: methods and impacts. Masaryk University. https://tinyurl.com/3rvjbz9m
De Genova, N. (2002). Migrant "illegality" and deportability in everyday life. Annual Review of Anthropology, 31, 419-447. https://tinyurl.com/3hsv7snh https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.31.040402.085432
Dimitriadi, A. (2015). Greece is Like a Door, You Go Through it to Get to Europe: Understanding Afghan Migration to Greece. ELIAMEP https://tinyurl.com/3jekd57a https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2628805
ECHR (2015). Application no 21884/15: Case of Chowdury and Others v. Greece. The European Court of Human Rights. https://tinyurl.com/4hfjdk83
ECHR (2017). European Course of Human Rights. Migrants who were subjected to forced labour and human trafficking did not receive effective protection from the Greek State [Press release]. https://tinyurl.com/dvw3saam
Fouskas, T. (2008 July 9-12). Labour Representation and Trade Unionism of Immigrant Workers: The Cases of Five Immigrant Labour Communities in Athens. [Conference presentation]. European Population Conference (EPC) 2008: Migration and Migrants in Europe, Barcelona: European Association for Population Studies (EAPS).
Fouskas, T. (2010). Immigrant "Communities" and Labour Representation. PhD Thesis. Athens: Panteion University (in Greek).
Fouskas, T. (2024a). The Sociology of Migration in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Barriers to Integration in Greece. In Maddanu, S. & Toscano, E. (Eds.) Inequalities, Youth, Democray and the Pandemic. (pp. 71-92) Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003459682-6
Fouskas, T. (2024b) Invisible, yet one of the family? Unravelling the precarious employment conditions of migrant Filipina live-in domestic workers and caregivers in Greece. In Aulenbacher, B., Lutz, H., Palenga-Möllenbeck, E., & Schwiter, K. (Eds.). Home Care for Sale: The Transnational Brokering of Senior Care in Europe. (pp. 262-277) Sage.
Fouskas, T. (2018). Repercussions of precarious employment on migrants' perceptions of healthcare in Greece. International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, 11(4) 298-311. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-01-2018-0010
Fouskas, T. (2012). Low-Status Work and Decollectivization: The Case of Bangladeshis in Athens. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 10(1), 54-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2012.646230
Fratsea, L. M. & Papadopoulos, A. G. (2021). Making sense of the constellations of mobility of Bangladeshi migrants in Greece. Migration Letters, 18(1) 49-60. https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v18i1.1092
Galanis, P., Spyros, K., Siskou, O., Konstantakopoulou, O., Angelopoulos, G., & Kaitelidou, D. (2022). Healthcare services access, use, and barriers among migrants in Europe: A Systematic Review. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.24.22271449
Goulem, B. (2021). Health and healthcare access for undocumented migrant agricultural workers in Greece. PhD Thesis. Queen's University.
Gusterman, Τ. (2020). Availability and access to health care for irregular migrants in Greece: a study about changes between 2010 and 2020. MA Thesis. Uppsala Universitet. https://tinyurl.com/y6tjpcnk
Hasan, M. (2019). Bangladeshi 'Boat People': Context, Drivers and Policy Implications. South Asia Research, 39(1), 78-94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0262728018814632
Hasan, Μ. (2024, May 28). What Drives People From 'Booming' Bangladesh to Migrate? The Diplomat. https://tinyurl.com/3396n6ub
Hindstorm, H. (2015, June 17). In Thai detention centers, female migrants remain in limbo. Al Jazeera. America. https://tinyurl.com/bdfszbhm
IOM. (2021). Bangladeshi Migrants in Europe 2021. A multiple source snapshot. IOM. https://tinyurl.com/3pr7wy6t
Kynge, J. (2014 August 12). Record remittance inflows boost Bangladesh GDP outlook, Financial Times https://tinyurl.com/yy9z4ezm
Kaestner, R. (2009). Adverse effects of alcohol consumption on health: An overview of systematic reviews. BMJ, 339, b3675. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b3675
Kukreja, R. (2021). Covid-19, racial capitalism, and undocumented agricultural workers from Bangladesh in Manolada, Greece. Dve Domovini, 54. https://doi.org/10.3986/dd.2021.2.07
Ministry of Migration and Asylum (2024). December 2024 - Legal Migration. Ministry of Migration and Asylum https://tinyurl.com/33k8rzpj
Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., Shekelle, P., Stewart, L. A., & PRISMA-P Group (2015). Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Systematic reviews, 4(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-4-1
Papadakaki, M., Lionis, C., Saridaki, A., Dowrick, C., de Brún, T., O'Reilly-de Brún, M., … MacFarlane, A. (2017). Exploring barriers to primary care for migrants in Greece in times of austerity: Perspectives of service providers. European Journal of General Practice, 23(1), 129-135. https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2017.1307336
Papadakis, G., Zambelis, T., Villiotou, V., Dogkas, N., Pappas, A., Keramidas, I., Kakava, K., Michalopoulou, M., Rosenberg, T., Konstantopoulos, K., & Chatzipanagiotou, S. (2015b). Lower Levels of Vitamin D Among Bangladeshi Immigrants with Diabetes in Greece Compared to Indigenous Greek Patients with Diabetes. In vivo, 29(5), 541-545. https://tinyurl.com/sszatnw4
Papadakis, G., Zampelis, T., Michalopoulou, M., Konstantopoulos, K., Rosenberg, T., & Chatzipanagiotou, S. (2015a). Epidemiological and clinical study of diabetes in immigrants from Bangladesh in Athens versus Greek patients. In vivo, 29(2), 223-227. https://tinyurl.com/bdfbbx4u
Papageorgiou, N. (2012). South Asian Migration in Greece. Cultural Plurality and Social Intagration Culture and Research, 1, 83-95. https://doi.org/10.26262/culres.v1i0.2716
Ranjan, A. (2016). Migration from Bangladesh: Impulses, Risks and Exploitations. The Round Table, 105(3), 311-319. https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2016.1181409
Salvanou, E. (2014). Muslims in Athens: Narratives and strategies of belonging. Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 32(2), 339-366. https://doi.org/10.1353/mgs.2014.0043
Souliotis, K., Saridi, M., Banou, K. et al. (2019). Health and health needs of migrants in detention in Greece: Shedding light to an unknown reality. Global Health, 15(4). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-018-0448-4
Spencer, S. & Triandafyllidou, A., (2022). Irregular Migration. In: P. Scholten (Ed.), Introduction to Migration Studies (pp. 191-204), Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92377-8_12
Teunissen, E., Tsaparas, A., Saridaki, A., Kontogianni, E., Merakou, K., Lionis, C., & van Weel-Baumgarten, E. (2016). Reporting mental health problems of undocumented migrants in Greece: A snapshot. Journal of Public Health Research, 5(2), 119-124. https://doi.org/10.4081/jphr.2016.119
The Daily Star (14 August 2015). 43 workers return from Libya', The Daily Star http://www.thedailystar.net/43-workersreturn-from-libya-37156
Toksöz, G. (2018). Irregular migration and migrants' informal employment: A discussion theme in international migration governance. In Schierup, C.-U., Likic-Brboric, B., Delgado Wise, R., & Toksöz, G. (Eds.), Migration, Civil Society and Global Governance (pp. 779-794), Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2018.1474040
Tonchev, P. (2007). Asian immigrants in Greece. Institute of International Economic Relations. https://tinyurl.com/yc72zycm
World Health Organization. (2020). ApartTogether survey: Preliminary overview of refugees and migrants' self-reported
Downloads
Pubblicato
Come citare
Fascicolo
Sezione
Licenza
Copyright (c) 2025 Eleni Kontiza, George Koulierakis, Theodoros Fouskas, Theodoros Sergentanis

TQuesto lavoro è fornito con la licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale.
Questa licenza consente a terzi di condividere (copiare e ridistribuire il materiale in qualsiasi mezzo o formato) e adattare (remixare, trasformare e creare dal materiale per qualsiasi scopo, anche commerciale), a condizione che sia riconosciuta la paternità e la prima pubblicazione in questa rivista (La Rivista, DOI del lavoro), che sia fornito un link alla licenza e che sia indicato se sono state apportate modifiche al lavoro.