ABSTRACT
The recent refugee and immigrant inflows from Middle East, North Africa and Asia have become massive concerning millions of people who move towards neighboring countries or attempt to be channeled in Europe through specific gateways in Southern-European areas. Among those, the islands of the Eastern Aegean Sea, which serve as the main entrance point for refugee and immigration fluxes, have experienced the biggest wave of flows. The aim of the present chapter is to investigate the attitudes and behavior of Mytilene’s residents regarding the way the immigrant-refugee issue has affected their everyday life and economic situation due to the extent of the phenomenon and the social consequences caused. The positive attitude of local community primarily towards refugees and to a lesser extent towards immigrants and the actual humanitarian assistance demonstrated towards them are prominent results of the study. Moreover, the relatively negative attitude of local society to the perspective of permanent residence of the incoming population in the island should be pointed out. The aforementioned reluctance is probably the result of weak state institutions and lack of coordination with associated agencies so as the integration procedure to be carried out smoothly.
