Greece: Immigration Policy, Security, and Socio-Economic Impact

This research report provides a detailed analysis of Greece's immigration policy, examining its evolution, current state, and implications for national security and the socio-economic environment. The report highlights the shift from emigration to immigration in Greece, discussing the factors that have contributed to this change and the challenges associated with it. It explores the security threats posed by illegal immigration, including the potential for terrorist activities and the strain on national resources. The report investigates the impact of immigration on the labor market, social order, and the economy. It also delves into the historical background of immigration regimes in Greece and presents a case study on emigration from Greece and its transition to immigration. The report concludes with recommendations for policy changes to address the risks to national security and citizen safety.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND SECURITY STUDIES
International Relations and Security Studies
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 5
Research methodology....................................................................................................6
Research approach:..................................................................................................... 6
Research purpose:....................................................................................................... 6
Research strategy:....................................................................................................... 6
Data collection:.............................................................................................................7
Research Question.......................................................................................................... 7
Background of the study.................................................................................................. 7
Argument..........................................................................................................................9
Chapter 1....................................................................................................................... 11
Literature review.............................................................................................................11
Illegal Immigration in Greece:.....................................................................................11
Developments in Greek Immigration Policy................................................................12
National Security Threat.............................................................................................15
Chapter 2: Empirical.......................................................................................................19
The beginning of immigration regimes in Greece:......................................................19
Historical Background:................................................................................................20
Issues regarding undocumented immigrants:.............................................................21

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Illegal immigration:......................................................................................................22
Immigration Policies in Greece:..................................................................................23
Chapter 3: Case study................................................................................................... 26
Emigration from Greece............................................................................................. 27
Replacing the emigration trend with immigration........................................................28
Gateway to Europe.....................................................................................................29
The threat to the national security of Greece due to increased immigration...............30
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 31
Recommendations:........................................................................................................ 32
References.....................................................................................................................34

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Abstract
This research paper entails a detailed discussion about the immigration policy of
Greece. It highlights the fundamental changes that have taken place since the evolution
of the immigration policy in the country. Greece, which was known for being a land of
migrants, has now become the land for the immigrants. The research paper discusses
about the change in the trend from emigration to immigration and the relevant factors
that have attributed to such changes. Further, given the potential risks that are
associated with the constant and random terror attacks, immigration is perceived as a
major means that provides the terror groups to enter into countries that are less likely to
have any stringent immigration regime. The attacks of 9/11 and more have made all the
nations across the world more cautious about their immigration policies to prevent any
further attacks. Greece is no exception but for the past few years, the country has been
experiencing an outburst of immigrants that are illegally crossing its borders. The
sudden increase in the illegal immigrans has resulted in a constant strain on the socio-
economic factor of the nation. Formerly, immigrants were permitted to arrive in the
country only for pursing any study course or for jobs that too, for a limited time period
after which they were obligated to leave. This ensured a good impact on the labor
market of the country, which further contributed to its growth and productivity. Presently,
the changes in the immigration policy where immigrants are allowed to reside within the
country is giving rise to several issues including unnecessary violent clashes and are
ultimately becoming a significant threat to the national security of the country. The
research paper highlights all the factors that are attributing threaten the security of the
country and the safety of the nationals. The most self-evident situation of this threat is

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the arrival of several people and residing of such several people within the country
illegally that too people, about whom the government does not have adequate
information with respect to their motives and origin. The unknown motives of such
illegal immigrants may vary from being purely economic (such as to earn higher salary
or obtain employment) or it may amount to criminal intentions (such as terrorist acts,
other criminal activities). The flaw within the immigration policy attributes to the
contribution made by the foreign citizens in the commission of serious crimes like
robberies, thefts, homicides, rapes and burglaries. This is evident from the number and
percentage of foreigners that is found within the Greek prison system. The research
paper concludes with recommendations with respect to necessary changes that should
be made within the immigration policy of the country to ensure that it deters any risks
that are likely to jeopardize the national security and safety of its citizens.

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Introduction
Illegal Immigration is considered as one of the most intricate issue that nations
are facing in the contemporary era. Since the occurrence of the 9/11 event, security
concerns have gained momentum on the international and national political agendas.
Greece is no exception. A nation that had zero immigration a few years back presently
is overflowed with undocumented arrivals. Across Aegean, waves of the African and
Asian economic migrants are causing unbearable strain on Greek Islands and Turkey
is being used as the facilitator. It is usually estimated that the country hosts 1.5 million
of illegal immigrants, which amounts to a total population 10.7 million. In other words,
almost 14 percent of the people in Greece lack legal claim to domicile. Such
differences highlight the excessive illegal immigration crisis that is being faced by
Greece (Bedock and Vasilopoulos 2015).
Such extensive illegal immigration is causing excessive strain on the national
resources that are already on the verge of being overexploited. In addition, social law
and order apart from economic issues have also emerged as a significant concern
resulting from the incline in illegal immigration issues within the nation. The present
immigration policy of the country has been incompetent in dealing with the issues
emerging from the overflow of the immigrants within the country illegally. This research
paper has aimed discussing about the immigration policy status in Greece and the treat
it is posing to the national security of the country. It also entails the impact of the
present immigration policy on the economy of the country along with the security and
safety of the nation and its nationals. Furthermore, the paper discusses about the

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various cases and theories that demonstrates how the incompetency in dealing with the
issues arising from immigration policy has overturned the country from being a nations
of migrants to the land of immigrants that too, in abundant.
Research methodology
Research approach:
This topic will help to identify all the sources from where authentic information
has been gathered. The selection of the research approach is based on the types of the
research and in this report; inductive research approach has been taken into
consideration. It has been stated by Vamsi Krishna (2014), formulation of the research
question is the main matter of concern in case of inductive approach. Under the method
of inductive process, new theories can be formulated and this can facilitate the process
of research a lot. A detailed analysis has been conducted by this research approach.
Research purpose:
In this research, an understanding has been made regarding the actual purpose
of the case. Therefore, a descriptive purpose has been taken into consideration.
Descriptive research method will help to identify all the information exactly. Further,
thematic observation has been made by the descriptive way.
Research strategy:
In this research paper, all the information has been collected from the authentic
websites, news settlers and documented copies. All these things helped to find out all
the relevant information regarding the governmental policies and the current situation of
the country has been clarified. Thematic analysis has been made to this aspect and this

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research method has helped to identify proper recommendation process in this
research.
Data collection:
It is one the most effective and important tool for the research purpose. It has
been observed that all the data are collected from the authentic journals, books,
documents and websites and therefore, it can be stated that the secondary method has
been adopted in this case. It can be stated that all the data are quite important in this
case and without them, the present scenario of Greece could not be achieved.
Research Question
The research questions for the research paper are as follows:
 What is the current immigration policy in Greece?
 How does the present immigration policy affect the securitization of the country?
 Does the surge in illegal immigrants pose national threat to the country?
 What is the impact of surge in illegal immigration on the socio-economic factor of
the country?
 How did the emigration trend in the country changed into immigration?
Background of the study
In general, human migration has been taking place throughout the history and
has been often perceived as a significant threat to the national security of a country
apart from being considered as an opportunity. The ‘securitization’ of migration in
Greece commenced during the early period of 1990s. The political and economic

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changes that occurred in East Central Europe leading to overflow of migrants into
Greece also gave rise to repeated restrictive action. Such actions included stringent
border controls to extensive operation that resulted in massive deportations and racist
reactions against such deportations. The overflow of immigrants in larger cities like
Athens accelerated the concerns that were already prevailing since the early 1990s
when the country became an immigration host for the first time. It demonstrated the
deficiencies in the immigration policies and lack of assimilation of all the policies to bring
out a desired outcome (Figgou 2016).
Athens is already known for its objectionable record of heaving illegal immigrant
Ghetto where the residents of Ghetto arose to form organized gangs in order to
exercise control over the territory. Consequently, violent armed clashes take place
during the broad daylight near the Parliament of the country. Further, in Patras, which is
considered as the largest gateway port to Italy, illegal immigrants are usually found
roaming in groups around the harbor with the objective to board ferries in order to enter
Italy. There have been reports where such illegal immigrants and the seafront business
owners have engaged into violent clashes causing fear and panic amongst the
residents of Patras. Therefore, the surge in illegal immigrants in the Greece has
become a significant challenge for the nation within the regional environment and
requires to be addressed sooner in order to ensure security of the country and its
nationals.

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Argument
Modern scholars have argued about the likelihood of such immigrants having a
positive impact or an adverse impact on the economy of the country apart from the
possibility of posing a threat to security of the nation as well as to its nationals.
According to Bedock and Vasilopoulos (2015), in the past few decades, Greece has
become an immigration country from being an emigration county. At present, the nation
is experiencing unusual humanitarian crisis with the arrival of almost 950,000 people
between 2015 and 2016. The majority of the immigrants cross the nation from Turkey to
Northern Europe amongst which only 1 percent have requested asylum in Greece.
Such an immigration surge has caused reduction in the rate of labor migration flows
along with the immigration crisis.
It has been observed that the lives of the immigrants were exploited and they had
found them as trapped in the country. According to a study, it has been revealed that
the country had 390,000 illegal migrants in the year 2011. In the words of Dr.
Leonidas, such labor exploitation has also been observed in certain European states
like UK and France (Weber 2015). The illegal immigrants are allowed to make the
economic condition of the country better.
It has been stated by the Washington Times (2017) that in Athens, the number of
illegal immigrants are at per risk. It has been contended that the immigration problem
has affected the country a lot. The incidents like Syrian War and adverse policies of
Germany, many people are forced to come into the territory of Greece as migrants
(Gogonas and Michail 2015). Therefore, the socio-economic condition of the state has
been deteriorated. Further, it has been observed that the excessive entrance of the

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refugees make adverse situation for the job seeker and many rigidities have been
notified in the labor market of Greece. Certain positive effects have been observed on
the GDP rate of the country and it has been observed that the flexible labor market of
the country has motivated the immigrants to find job in the country. However, the
migrants have affected the modern economy of Greece and they have taken active part
in the gross reduction in the income capabilities. Continuous growth in the rate of
immigrants has created negative impact on the future underground economy of Greece
and adverse distributional effects have been observed in this respect.

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Chapter 1
Literature review
Illegal Immigration in Greece:
Considering the total population of Greece, it can be stated that almost 7.1% of
its population is affected by the immigration system. The total immigrants of Greece can
be categorized and it has been observed that the immigrants from Albania constitute
60% of the total immigrant population (Adamczyk 2016). However, this high rate of
immigrant has created negative impact on the country. Further, there are many political
immigrants present to overflow the illegal migratory system. Such illegal migration has
been incremented from the year 1990. The scope of the illegal immigrants has been
observed in the parts of the Turkey, Iraq and Somali. The rates of the refugees have
been increased in alarming way during the Syrian Civil War in 2015. According to a
news reporter of United Kingdom, it has been observed that the country of Greece is
allowing many immigrants to enter into the mainland of Greece in illegal way and the
main reason for the same is to reduce the labor cost of the country. According to Dr.
Leonidas Cheliotis, the previous government of Greece had taken many policies by
which the country has allowed many outside migrants come into the country and all of
them were engaged in the laboring sectors (Greece.greekreporter.com 2018). The
ultimate aim of the government was to make a reduction in the remuneration cost so
that the economic condition of the country can be facilitated. However, the negative
impact of the same is that the country was over- populated with illegal migrants.