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This article examines the administrative procedures and results of the two legalisations in Greece in 1998 and 2001. Although the massive inflow of foreign immigrants had started in the late 1980s, the number of foreigners granted residence and work permits was restricted, causing a large stock of undocumented immigrants and creating the mentality that these economic immigrants are a new source of low-cost unregistered labour. Following the two legalisations, an increasing number of foreigners have progressed towards integration. Little has changed, however, in the other main aspects of immigration to Greece: not all undocumented immigrants have applied for legalisation; for various reasons many do not renew their green card when it expires; new or previously expelled migrants flock in, attracted by the demand for their flexible labour and facilitated by the large underground economy; around 230,000 expulsions continue to take place annually; and there is no indication as to how things are likely to devel...

The undocumented economic immigrants (UEI) in Greece (about half a million since the early 1990s, forming the bulk of the immigration to the country) find jobs because of their wage and job-flexible labour and the rigidities in the Greek labour market. They have positive effects on the GDP through the increase in the supply of labour, and there is evidence that they also contribute to relieving the inflationary pressures on the economy. The immigrant-induced unemployment, the decreasing effect on real wages and the adverse distributional effects on income appear to be limited, but other tangible and intangible socio-economic costs are likely to be significant: the UEI expand further the underground economy, although their work is not among its main causes; they – among others – are often subject to exploitation, which exposes Greece to criticism that it benefits from their labour without offering them any opportunity to integrate economically and socially. Despite ample evidence that the recent increased criminality in Greece is mainly due to individuals and organized gangs who enter in order to commit crimes, usually in close collaboration with local people, many Greeks believe that the UEI are the main cause. Finally, by restricting increases in real wage costs, the UEI may have diminished the efforts to increase capital investment and economic restructuring. Until January 1998, when the five-month registration period for their regularization started, the undocumented immigrants – mostly young people without their families – had a short average stay in the country and no civil rights. Consequently, the ‘positive’ demographic and social effects of immigration have been limited.

Greece has experienced sudden massive inflows of immigration in the 1990s, predominantly from Albania. Lurching between exclusionary ideology and practical permissiveness, policy has been incoherent. A delayed regularization programme is now in operation, but proceeding slowly and potentially problematically. Police and bureaucrats’ complicity in the trafficking and forced prostitution of migrants has emerged as an extensive phenomenon. Using a tripartite analytic framework, it is argued that different state agencies and actors have pushed different policies for different reasons. Overall, state capacity to react has been weak and defective.

About 330,000 foreign immigrant women, out of a total foreign immigrant population close to one million persons, have resided in Greece since the mid-1990s. These women are characterized by diverse patterns of motivation for entering Greece, legal status, ethnicity, migration type (i.e., independent versus associational, transient versus permanent), kinds of employment and living conditions. The overwhelming majority are economic migrants who entered the country illegally or legally but work without permits. After the two legalisations in 1998 and 2001 most of them have acquired a legal status. They show however a high propensity to lapse again into illegality by not renewing their permits, while new illegal arrivals pour in. About two thirds of the women, the same as the male migrants come from Albania and a further 6% from Bulgaria, both bordering Greece. A total of about 86% of female migrants come from the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe, including those of the former Soviet Union. The remaining come from dozens of other source countries in all continents. They represent every religion, with Christians of various denominations and Moslems topping the list. Their motivations range from supporting financially their families at home or in Greece (the considerable number of migrant pupils has been on the increase), to advancing their careers, acquiring more work experience, and combining tourism with employment. Hardly any are illiterate and about one in six or seven have tertiary education. A considerable proportion migrate alone as independent migrants, following a lonely path by striving on their own to settle and make a living in a foreign country. Although there are indications that an increasing number intend to remain in Greece for many years, the majority appear to be transient migrants, not intending permanent settlement. Their living conditions are highly diverse.

Strong push, pull and network formation factors account for the over 600,000 foreign immigrants, mostly economic and with irregular status, who have been since the early 1990s in Greece, a traditionally emigration country. Over a quarter of them are females who have come alone, marking the new trend in female migration. And like their male counterparts, they find jobs due to their wage and job flexibility. The recent Greek policy to regularise irregular or undocumented immigrants (UI), that is, to issue work and, in most cases, residence permits to those foreigners who work and/or live in the country irregularly, will settle some political, moral and social issues and allow more households and large firms to employ in a variety of jobs more women with a legal immigrant status. From the research point of view it may also facilitate more research on immigrant female employment, social and family life, and adult and child prostitution. On the other hand, it will also increase the cost of immigrant labour, its flexibility is likely to decrease and the invited depended family members of the legalised immigrants may tax heavily the inadequate and subsidised social infrastructure. Given that many irregular migrants have not applied for regularisation and new ones enter the market, perhaps a new regularisation would be needed soon, raising the broader question about the proper economic and social policies on irregular immigration. Intensos factores de atracción y de expulsión además de la formación de redes migratorias explican la presencia de más de 600.000 inmigrantes extranjeros en Grecia. La mayoría son inmigrantes económicos y de estatus irregular, quienes han vivido en Grecia desde principios de los noventa, en un país tradicionalmente expulsor de emigrantes. Más de una cuarta parte de éstos son mujeres que han llegado de forma autónoma, mostrando las nuevas tendencias en las migraciones femeninas. Como ocurre con los varones, encuentran ocupaciones caracterizadas por una gran flexibilidad laboral. La reciente política de regularización de inmigrantes extranjeros destinada a ofrecer permisos de trabajo y de residencia a aquéllos que están en situación irregular abrirá nuevas cuestiones políticas, morales y sociales, permitirá que los hogares y las grandes empresas empleen a mujeres en una gran variedad de trabajos, y desde el punto de vista de la investigación social facilitará el avance sobre el estudio del empleo de las mujeres inmigrantes, su situación social y familiar, así como el fenómeno de la prostitución de niños y adultos. Por otra parte, también aumentará el coste de la mano de obra inmigrante, probablemente debilitará su flexibilidad y provocará que los familiares que entren a través de la reunificación familiar aumenten los costes de la ya inadecuada infraestructura de subsidios sociales. Muchos inmigrantes irregulares no han solicitado la regularización, a los que se suman los recién llegados al mercado, en este sentido posiblemente se necesitará pronto un nuevo proceso de regularización, poniendo sobre el tapete la cuestión de las políticas económicas y sociales dirigidas a los inmigrantes irregulares. Palabras clave:feminización de la migración, inmigrantes irregulares, regularización (legalización, amnistía) de los inmigrantes irregulares, mercado de trabajo, familia griega, mujeres griegas.

Despite the fact that Greece is far from being the most prosperous of the Southern European economies (in fact on many indicators it is the poorest of the four Southern EU countries), it has the highest proportion of immigrant workers — 500,000 according to some estimates, accounting for more than a tenth of the labour force. This chapter takes as its main theme the interaction between these mostly illegal immigrant workers and the Greek economy and labour market. The account is structured in six parts. First, a brief overview is made of Greek external migration trends since 1945. Secondly, I will examine the specific characteristics of the Greek economy and labour market, paying particular attention to the demand and supply of unskilled labour. Thirdly, the evolution of immigration into Greece is traced through the key role of network factors. Next, the wages and productivity of immigrant workers are described, using a variety of primary and secondary data sources. In the fifth section of the chapter I look at the effects of immigration on the Greek economy, including demographic and employment/unemployment effects. Sixthly, I turn to some policy considerations, which are updated in an epilogue on the very recent regularization process.

"This paper offers a review and evaluation of the Greek experience of international migration.... The analysis is based partly on available published data, and partly on qualitative appraisals. Three major international migration phases are analysed--emigration, return migration and immigration--and the main socio-economic and cultural effects of these migration trends are discussed. The paper pays particular attention to the recent mass immigration movements, noting their heterogeneity...and describing their impact on the Greek labour market. The article concludes with some comments on the difficulties of formulating a Greek migration policy in the light of the country's location, open borders and internationalized economy."