Rudimentary Integration Policies in Greece. Not a priority for Greek government policies.

RESPOND Policy Brief [2021/16]

Authors: Eva Papatzani, Nadina Leivaditi, Ilias Aggelos, Electra Petracou - University of the Aegean

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  

Since the 1990s, Greece has been an immigration country, for migrants from Central and Eastern European countries, but also later for migrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Nevertheless, no official integration policy was planned and implemented succesfully until recently. During the last decade, the political and social context in the country is determined by both the multilevel socioeconomic recession and the increase in refugee arrivals. In 2015, 856,723 people arrived by sea to the Eastern Aegean islands, accounting for 80% of total arrivals in Europe. Since 2016, after the closure of the so-called “Balkan Corridor” and the EU-Turkey Statement, significant numbers of people were obliged to stay in the country and to apply for asylum. These developments have strengthened the character of Greece, from a transit to a reception country. The Migration and Social Integration Code (Law 4251/2014) is currently the basic law regulating integration in Greece, and it has addressed issues pertaining to residence permits and access to the labour market. Furthermore, two national strategies for the integration of third-country nationals were launched in 2013 and 2018 respectively, functioning mainly as a roadmap with integration proposals. In this Policy Brief, the focus is on the most important developments on integration in Greece, including aspects such as Labour Market, Education, Housing and Spatial Integration, Psychosocial Health and Citizenship, Belonging and Civic Participation, based on the outcomes of RESPOND research project that focused on the period between 2011 and 2019.

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