Migrants in Greece are becoming fewer and fewer. The strongest group of Albanians has melted by half. The country does not want those refugees that Germany plans to send back either. And in fact, Greece needs them.
The hero of this summer in Greece is Goga Levian: on June 10, the 41-year-old Albanian jumped into the Arachtos River and saved two children from drowning. He pulled the boys from a depth of eight meters. Because of his heroism, he will now receive Greek citizenship.
But why didn't he get it a long time ago? However, Leo, as the residents of the small town of Neoksori Artas call him, where he lives, has been working in Greece for 24 years. He got married here, and his children go to the local school. Despite this, Leo has to extend his residence permit every three years, wait in lines at the Migration Service, waste a lot of time, money and nerves. Just like hundreds of thousands of other migrants who have lived and worked in Greece for decades. Governments over the past 30 years have never managed to permanently regulate the residence status of migrants.
Restrictive refugee policy
The conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis presents itself as strict and unwavering towards refugees and migrants - in line with the current European trend.
Former Migration Minister Dimitris Keridis, who was in office for only one year, made small attempts in 2023 to improve migration law. For example, those who arrived illegally in Greece and could prove that they had worked in the country for three years were given the opportunity to obtain a three-year residence permit. However, this measure was canceled by the current Minister of Migration, Makis Voridis.
He is an opponent of illegal migration and a supporter of border protection. He also rejects the plans of the German government to refuse to accept new arrivals and to return refugees who have entered the territory of the Federal Republic to third countries such as Greece. This would amount to up to 40,000 young men from whom the Greek labor market could benefit.
The example of Spain
Greek companies, especially in tourism, construction and agriculture, are desperately looking for workers. The head of the Central Bank, Yannis Stournaras, is convinced that migration is of great importance for Greece. "At a time when an aging population and the inability to fill important jobs threaten economic stability and social solidarity, migrants can fill the gaps and strengthen both traditional sectors and emerging industries," he wrote in the newspaper "Ta Nea."
Stournaras gives the example of Spain, where GDP growth is one of the fastest in the EU. In Spain, the government plans to facilitate the legalization of up to 900,000 migrants over the next three years, thus recognizing their role in maintaining and stimulating social and economic well-being, as the governor of the Central Bank points out.
"People want to go to Germany"
In other words, Greece's problem is not that there are too many migrants, but that there are too few. However, no efforts are being made to keep the people who have arrived in the country, nor to integrate them. Quite the opposite - their departure further to Western and Northern Europe is a cause for joy.
Lefteris Papanyakis, the head of the Greek Refugee Council, told DW: "The government's argument is: What can we do? People want to go to Germany, which gives them more. And they leave completely legally". According to the migration expert, this is unacceptable. "The Greek authorities should be asked: Did you offer people an incentive to stay in the country? The answer is - no."
Papanyakis points out that Minister Voridis does not talk at all about the integration of migrants and refugees. "He only mentioned the word once in parliament, and that was to say that integration had failed." Papanyakis adds that there are no integration programs in Greece at all.
Migration to Greece is declining
Currently, the Greek labor market is short of more than 200,000 workers. But over the past ten years, the number of migrants in the country has fallen dramatically. For example, the group best integrated into Greek society - Albanian migrants - has decreased from 700,000 to 350,000 people.
One reason is the cumbersome bureaucracy that makes life hell for migrants. Around 300,000 applications from legal migrants to obtain or extend their residence permits are waiting to be processed.
Voridis' proposals for a new restrictive migration law will only make the situation worse. The minister wants to criminalize illegal migration and increase the penalties for it to five years in prison. According to Voridis, last year the police detained 74,000 illegal migrants, who were then released, because at that time their illegal stay was not a crime.
But if the law is changed, to what prisons will the offenders be sent? Greek prisons have a capacity of 12,000 places and are already overcrowded.