Research Institute for European and American Studies
Newsletter on Immigration to Greece
Editor: Ioannis Kolovos
Unemployment much higher for foreign nationals
According to the latest Labor Force Survey (3rd quarter of 2014) the unemployment rate of foreign nationals was much higher compared to the Greeks (30.3% compared to 25.1% respectively).
The relevant press release by the National Statistics Authority can be read here (in Greek only)
Greece cannot know how many the country's illegal immigrants are
Ministry of Interior's general secretary for Population and Social Cohesion Mr Aggelos Syrigos admitted that the State cannot know – not even as an estimate – how many illegal immigrants live in Greece today. He noted that from the last ex-post facto legalization, which took place in 2007, until November 2014 785,000 individuals had been arrested by the police for not having the proper residence permits.
The relevant article (To Vima, 18/1/2015) can be read here (in Greek only)
A case of jihadi living in Greece?
The Belgian Authorities requested the arrest of a Muslim living in Greece who is suspected to be involved in the recent attempted terrorist attack in Belgium.
The relevant article (Ethnos, 19/1/2015) can be read here (in Greek only)
2014 illegal immigration data
Hellenic Police HQ publicized the data on illegal immigration in 2014. 77,163 foreigners were arrested for illegal entry and/or illegal stay in Greece (up from 43,002 in 2013 – an increase of 79%) and at the same time 27,789 foreigners were repatriated (up from 26,186 in 2013 - an increase of 6%). These data show that the absolute number of illegal immigrants in Greece must have increased for yet another year. If repatriations do not exceed the arrests, then the resolution of the issue will not have begun.
The relevant Hellenic Police HQ press release can be read here (in Greek only)
Foreigners feature disproportionately in Police's statistics on serious crime
According to criminality figures for 2014, released by the Hellenic Police, foreigners contribute significantly in serious crime. Foreigners make up for 36.9% of those arrested for homicides, for 33.3% of those arrested for rape, for 28.7% of those arrested for thefts-burglaries and for 37.4% of those arrested for robberies.
The criminality data for 2014 can be found here (in Greek only)
SYRIZA's policy proposals on immigration and citizenship
After SYRIZA's landslide victory in the recent elections it is useful to focus on the party's policy proposals on the issues of immigration and citizenship. These proposals can be summed up as ex-post facto legalizations of all illegal immigrants and as the granting of citizenship to all foreign children born in Greece.
A critique by this newsletter's editor on these two policy proposals can be found at the below links (in Greek only) - Link 1 and Link 2