Greek Policy towards Immigration and Immigrants

Abstract

The policy of Greek authorities towards immigrants is the subject of this paper. By the term "policy" we mean both the legal framework concerning immigration and the practices of Greek authorities and their agencies regarding immigrants. We argue that this policy is defined by the commitments and the obligations undertaken by Greece as a member of the EU, but also by the number, the ethnic composition, the economic and social situation of immigrants, the attitudes of Greeks towards them and, also, the effects of their presence. In this context, the policy is characterized by dilemmas and hesitations. This is due to the attitudes of Greek opinion and concerns about the possibility that the immigrants could in the long term create problems of national integration. Those main concerns are counterbalanced, to some extent, by the contribution of immigrants to the economy. Like other members of the EU, Greek authorities have tried twice, in  and in  , to legalize the illegal immigrants. Legalization seems to benefit both the immigrants and the Greeks. Crime rates have been reduced and xenophobia is losing ground. On the other hand, recent studies have shown that the situation of the immigrants has started to improve. Despite these positive developments, the dilemmas of immigration policy have already registered in everyday life and allow for various hostile practices towards the immigrant population.Similar to the other countries of Southern Europe, Greece was converted at the end of the  s into a host country for a large number of immigrants, most of them "irregular". The presence of hundreds of thousands of immigrants in a country poses diverse problems, which can be categorized as follows: . First, there are questions concerning the identity of the immigrants, the causes of their immigration, their expectations, their practices in the new environment of settlement (relations between them, attitudes towards the indigenous people, their organizations and the vindication of their rights)

Immigrant welfare in Greece: portrait of a town

“…16. On this point in relation to further research in the Greek context, see Kiprianos, Balias and Passas (2003).…”

‘Whiter than White’: Race and Otherness in Turkish and Greek National Identities

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Securitization of Migration in Greece: Process, Motives, and Implications

“…The most persistent concerns had to do with the impact of immigrants on the economy and public order. For instance, 90% of respondents in a 1993 poll thought that they “steal” jobs from citizens, and 84% that they pose a public threat (Kiprianos, Balias, and Passas :154). Yet, studies have shown that the imagined social significance of immigration as an economic and public order threat is not supported by empirical evidence.…”