I was fascinated to read an article by Alexandra Markovich on Religious News Service on the refugee problem in Greece.
The country has been very welcoming to asylum-seekers for the most part, but the article points to problems on the horizon.
Greece, surrounded by the Islamic World as it is, has held fast to its Orthodox faith. And Greeks fiercely defend their national identity–even those born in the country whose parents immigrated are not considered “real” Greeks.
Markovich writes, “As these refugees slowly resign to making Greece their home, experts say, they will encounter a country that has long resisted assimilating Muslim migrants. Orthodoxy seems inextricable from life in Greece, pervading conceptions of national identity. And at a time when terrorist attacks by Islamic State affiliates have set Europe and the United States on edge, including some recent attacks by refugees, Muslim integration in Greece looks to be even more of a challenge….
“Seventy-eight percent of Greeks say that being Christian is important to be truly Greek, more than in any other European country surveyed by the Pew Research Center.
“Greek national identity leaves out not only those of other faiths, but those who were not born in Greece. According to the same Pew survey, 77 percent of Greeks think being born in Greece is important for national identity. And even second-generation immigrants have trouble finding acceptance.”
Dealing with the assimilation of the 57,000 refugees, most of the Muslim, will be an enormous challenge.
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