Greek immigration policy at the turn of the 21st century. Lack of political will or purposeful mismanagement?

European Journal of Migration and Law

Volumn 11, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 159-177

  Triandafyllidou, Anna ^a  

^a DEMOCRITUS UNIVERSITY OF THRACE   (Greece)

Author keywords

Greece; Immigration policy; Integration policy; Political parties; Southern Europe

Indexed keywords

EID: 68349091415     PISSN: 1388364X     EISSN: 15718166     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/157181609X440013     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. Law 4310 of 1929, revised in 1948, mainly dealt with issues of emigration.
2. According to SOPEMI (1999), in 1997 there were 74,500 legal migrants in Greece, of whom 6% were Albanians, 8% Bulgarians and 17% Russians (Romanians, Egyptians, Ukrainians and citizens from former Yugoslavia accounted for approx. 4% each). During the same period, several researchers estimated that there were approx. 400,000 undocumented immigrants living and working in Greece (R. Fakiolas, Recent eff orts to regularise undocumented immigrants, WP/97/40/EN, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin, 1997;
3. T.P. Lianos, A.H. Sarris, and L.T. Katseli, Illegal Immigration and Local Labour Markets: The Case of Northern Greece, 34/3 International Migration (1996) 449-484;
4. P.H. Linardos Rylmond, ελληνικηA κoνωνιAα και η νεAα μεταναAστεσ η(Greek society and new migration), in Tetradia politikou dialogou, ereunas kai kritikis, 1995, 36-37, p. 61-71; A. Triandafyllidou and A. Mikrakis, Greece: A Ghost wanders through the Capital, in B. Baumgartl and A. Favell (Eds.), The New Xenophobia in Europe, London: Kluwer International Law, 1995, pp. 165-179).
5. A. Triandafyllidou, 2001. Immigrants and National Identity in Europe. London: Routledge.
6. V. Roudometof, Nationalism and Identity Politics in the Balkans: Greece and the Macedonian Question, 14 Journal of Modern Greek Studies (1996) 253-301.
7. A. Triandafyllidou, A. Mikrakis and M. Calloni, New Greek Nationalism, Sociological Research Online, 1997, 2, 1, at: www.socresonline.org.uk/2/1/7.htm.
8. See Triandafyllidou, 2001, chapter 7.
9. See also T. Lianos, Illegal Migrants to Greece and their Choice of Destination, 39(2) International Migration (2001) 3-28.
10. See also M. Pavlou, The smugglers of fear. Racist discourse and immigrants in the press of a would be metropolis, in A. Marvakis, D. Parsanoglou and M. Pavlou (Eds.)MεταναAστεζ στην EλλαAδα (Immigrants in Greece), Athens: Ellinika Grammata, 2001, pp. 127-162.
11. Y. Panousis, Media, television 'enemies' and migration, in X. Kontiadis and Th. Papatheodorou (Eds.) μεταρρupsilon;Aθμιση τηζ μεταναsigma;τετι κηAζ πoλιτικηAζ, The Reform of Migration Policy, Athens: Papazisis, 2007, pp. 203-229.
12. The main weaknesses of the programme had to do with the inability of the Greek hospitals to examine thousands of applicants so that these last would receive the 'good health' certifi cates necessary for their applications. Also, the Ministry of Justice was unable to issue in such a short time criminal record certifi - cates to the thousands of applicants. On top of this, the Employment Institute (OAED) responsible for managing the programme suff ered from staff shortages. The temporary personnel eventually hired did not have the necessary training to perform their tasks effi ciently and transparently. The whole process suff ered from severe ideological and ethnic bias (and sometimes outright corruption) that conditioned decisions on the eligibility of applicants (C. Mpagavos and D. Papadopoulou, Mεταναστ ετικεAζ τασειζ και EρωπαιUκηA μεταναστετικηA πoλιτικηA (Migratory trends and European migration policy) INE, Employment Institute GSEE ADEDY, 2003, Athens Study Nr. 15; I. Psimmenos and K. Kassimati, The Greek case: Immigration Control Pathways: Organisational Culture and Work Values of Greek Welfare Offi cers, IAPASIS Project Report, KEKMOKOP, Panteion University, Athens, July 2002, available at: http://www.eui.eu/RSCAS/Research/IAPASIS/Reports.shtml, accessed on 9 January 2008.
13. See J. Cavounidis, Migration in Southern Europe and the Case of Greece, 40(1) International Migration (2002) 45-69; T. Lianos, Illegal Migrants to Greece and their Choice of Destination, 39 (2) International Migration (2001) 3-28.
14. G. Mavrodi, 'Europeanising' national immigration policy. The case of Greece, Arbeitspapiere No. 8, Bielefeld: Centre on Migration, Citizenship and Development, 2005.
15. A. Triandafyllidou, and A. Mikrakis, Greece: A Ghost wanders through the Capital, in B. Baumgartl and A Favell (Eds.), The New Xenophobia in Europe, London: Kluwer International Law 1995, pp. 165-79.
16. A. Triandafyllidou, EλληνικηA MεταναστετικηA ΠoλιτικηA: ΠρoβληAμ ατα και ΚατεθAν σειζ (The Greek Migratory Policy: Problems and Directions), ELIAMEP Policy Texts, Nr. 6, 2005, available at: http://www.eliamep.gr/en/ migration/publications-migration/migration-policy-in-greece/, last accessed on 19 January 2009.
17. See special report for law 2910/2001, submitted to the Minister of Interior in December 2001, http://www.synigoros.gr/porismata.htm#.
18. For instance, Minister of Interior P. Pavlopoulos made such a related declaration when he announced the most recent migration Act in January 2007. Also Prime Minister C. Karamanlis in his speech during the celebration of the Epiphany on 7 January 2008 noted that 'we appreciate the presence and work of those people who have come from foreign countries to live in our society and contribute to it'. The message was broadcasted on television live that morning.
19. The Greek Minister of Interior Prokopis Pavlopoulos stated in the Greek Parliament on 3 June 2008: 'We had 112,000 illegal migrants in 2007. We have no cooperation from Turkey. I will accuse [Turkey] on Thursday [5 June 2008] when I go to Luxembourg [for the Justice and Home Aff airs summit of EU Ministers] forgive me for the tone. Do not consider it hypocritical or emotional. It is the anxiety that I feel every night when they release all the slave ships at the coasts of Greece, without any control from Turkey, all these people that we have to take care of with respect to their rights and their life'. In this statement it appears that Greece received 112,000 irregular migrants in 2007. The number actually refers to irregular migrants detected in Greece in 2007 of whom nearly half were detected in the interior. From those actually detected on the border, 35,000 were detected in the Greek-Turkish border, and of those 35,000, less than 15,000 were arrested in the Aegean sea. However, as the statement and apparently the speech in Parliament goes, the 112,000 people fi gure is directly related to the arrival of irregular migrants (and asylum seekers) on the coasts of the Greek islands in the Aegean.
20. Pro Asyl, 'The truth may be bitter but it must be told'. The Situation of Refugees in the Aegean and the Practices of the Greek Coast Guard, Frankfurt a. M. and Athens 2007.
21. Mavrodi, 'Europeanising' national immigration policy. The case of Greece.
22. 12.06.2007 2007/435/EC: Council Decision of 25 June 2007 establishing the European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals for the period 2007 to 2013 as part of the General programme Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows, Offi cial Journal L 168, 28.06.2007, p. 18-36.
23. This most recent insight comes from a private conversation of the author with a Ministry of Interior employee who has worked at diff erent posts in the various migration-related service of the Athens Region (16 February 2009).
24. Pro Asyl, 'The truth may be bitter but it must be told'. The Situation of Refugees in the Aegean and the Practices of the Greek Coast Guard, Frankfurt a. M. and Athens 2007.
25. A. Triandafyllidou and M. Veikou, The Hierarchy of Greekness. Ethnic and National Identity Considerations in Greek Immigration Policy, 2 (2) Ethnicities (2002) 189-208;
26. A. Triandafyllidou, EλληνικηA MεταναστετικηA ΠoλιτικηA: ΠρoβληAμ ατα και ΚατεθAν σειζ (The Greek Migratory Policy: Problems and Directions).
27. Maroukis, 2008, author please supply details.
28. See for example: A. Triandafyllidou, and R. Gropas, Constructing Diff erence: The Mosque Debates in Greece', Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2009, in press;
29. Dia Anagnostou, Deepening democracy or defending the nation The Europeanisation of minority rights and Greek citizenship, 28 (2) West European Politics (2005) 336-358.
30. A. Triandafyllidou and M. Veikou, The Hierarchy of Greekness. Ethnic and National Identity Considerations in Greek Immigration Policy, 2(2) Ethnicities, (2002) 189-208.
31. See also E. Fokas, The Thiva Case Study, Project Report for the WAVE (Welfare and Values) Research Project, unpublished manuscript, presented at a seminar in Athens: KEKMOKOP, Panteion University, 20 February 2009.