The Greek diaspora in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union

former Soviet Union as possible. This information concerned
surveys which were carried out and detailed measures
taken to benefit the two groups (programmes, benefits
and awards). Part of this second step was the listing of all
laws issued by the Greek governments since 1946 that are
relevant to this research.
The third step was to approach some private non-profit
organisations (NGOs) of Pontians and political refugees.
Their records were extremely useful and illuminating,
particularly as they revealed whether the governmental
measures were actually implemented and to what extent
but also whether the demands of the return migrants and
the problems they encountered were resolved.
Finally, a few interviews were carried out: the people
interviewed had positions of high responsibility in their
departments, both in the public and private sector. They
focused on the policies that are implemented with regard
to migrants, the extent of the help that the state can
provide and the particular problems migrants must deal
with. Some problems arose while taking the above steps,
excluding the last one. The first problem was the lack of
literature; although there are plenty of books about migration
in general and Greek migration in particular, very few
of them concern Greek migrants from Eastern Europe and
the former Soviet Union because of their small number
compared to that of other migrants. Most of the literature
available concerns Greek emigrants to (West) Germany
which is where the vast majority of the post-World War II
emigrants went. This problem was to some extent resolved
by the plentiful information found in private associations.
Another problem was the lack of official statistical data
on return migration. Although the Greek National Statistical
Organisation provides such data for emigration, there
is no data available for return migration except for the
years 1968–1977. All that is available is some official statistical
data on the Pontian Greeks for the years 1986–1995
supplied by EIYAPOE (a governmental organisation responsible
for these issues). The only way to find relevant
information, particularly on the political refugees, was by
gathering the estimates of various associations and researchers
and comparing them.
Last but not least, the poor organisation of the public
sector services for the Greeks abroad presented a problem:
the relevant data was usually littered over several offices
of a department or even over different departments. Also,
some departments did not have the records they were supposed
to, and often denied responsibility on the matter. Although
such bureaucratic problems are difficult to resolve,
they were overcome because of the friendly and helpful
cooperation of the public servants contacted...
Please refer to our forthcoming publication “Migration and Political
Intervention. Diasporas in Transition Countries” for the
complete text.
The Pontian Greeks
Historical retrospection
The Pontians are descendants of the Greeks who, in the
8 th and 7 th centuries BC, created colonies in the Caucasus,
the Crimea and on the coasts of the Black Sea; this area is
called Euxinous Pontos, and so those Greeks were called
Pontians. This population increased significantly during
the Ottoman Empire and, before World War I, they numbered
about 1.5 million 1 despite having been persecuted by
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