Immigration in Greece: overview and perspectives

The present paper examines immigration in Greece over the past two decades. Economic immigrants in Greece, despite the absence of reliable offi cial data, exceed one million, while immigration has lead to the development of policies relating to the planning and implementation of a coherent immigration policy centered on the legalization and the integration of immigrants in the Greek society. This necessity stems from the twenty year old existence of immigration in Greece as well as from a series of developments affecting core public policies such as education, employment, income, social insurance, health care, residence, legalization and integration of immigrants. Nonetheless, it should be pointed out, that the size and the complexity of the phenomenon requires the development of a coherent policy that will in turn enhance effectiveness in tackling the social, economic, and political aspects of immigration. In addition, the role of immigrants in society, the labor market and the economy constitutes a further point towards that direction.