Ethnographic Analysis of South Asian Forced Migration

Abstract

The understanding of forced migration can be explained by the cultural factors of forced migration where migration creates culture and culture leads to migration. In these consequences, the major objective of this research paper is based on the process, determinants and consequences of forced migration from South Asia (Pakistan and Bangladesh) to Greece. The paper's methodology is based on ethnographic field surveys among South Asian asylums and refugees in Athens in August 2017.  Qualitative data was collected through focus group discussions (FGDs), informal interviews and passive observation methods. Collected qualitative data is analyzed using narratives, descriptions, and case studies under the content analysis of ethnographic technique.  The study's findings show that there is a function of culturalization of forced migration from Pakistan and Bangladesh to Greece due to the depth penetration of the culture of migration. These consequences led to one-way migration because South Asian asylums and refugees did not have any option about direct return to root due to unidentified geo-nation identity but these asylums and refugees in-directly returned to their homelands through the formation of South Asian culture in Greece in the context of assimilation and integration between two different cultures as “Hybrid cultural Diaspora” with discrimination, contradictions and challenges of forced migration. Therefore, the findings of the study would encourage researchers, policymakers and academicians for further research in the area of forced migration on a global level.