RESEARCH AREAS

Research Institute for European and American Studies
Newsletter on Immigration to Greece

Editor: Ioannis Kolovos

Reality starting to sink in!
The largest selling daily newspaper "Ta Nea" pointed out in an editorial the inconsistencies in the proposals on immigration policy put forward by the new government Ministers.

The editorial (Ta Nea, 2/3/2015) can be read in full here (in Greek only)

Reality starting to sink in! (II)
The largest selling morning daily newspaper "Kathimerini" criticized in an editorial the new government's proposals on immigration policy.

The editorial (Kathimerini, 5/3/2015) can be read in full here (in Greek only)

Research Institute for European and American Studies
Newsletter on Immigration to Greece

Editor: Ioannis Kolovos

New government's immigration policy is starting to bear fruit!
Arrested illegal immigrants admit: "We heard that Greece has opened its borders and, thus, we can travel easily to Europe"!

The relevant article (Kathimerini, 1/4/2015) can be read here (in Greek only)

Illegal immigrant inflow by sea increased sharply in Q1 2015
The inflow of illegal immigrants by sea has increased more than threefold in Q1 2015 compared to Q1 2014 (10,445 arrests compared to 2,863 respectively).

The relevant article (Ethnos, 5/4/2015) can be read here (in Greek only)

Research Institute for European and American Studies
Newsletter on Immigration to Greece
Editor: Ioannis Kolovos

Frontex publicized their Annual Risk Analysis for 2015
The analysis noted that "Compared to the previous year, the sharp increase in the Aegean Sea in 2014 meant that migrants departed from more areas, and also arrived on a larger number of islands... Many migrants claimed to be Syrian, and were thus handed an administrative notice allowing them to stay in Greece for up to six months, even without applying for asylum. Screening processes of some migrants revealed a high degree of falsely claimed nationalities to avoid return" (p. 20).

The analysis can be read in full here (in English)

Making the same mistake again and again and again!
The deputy Minister for Immigration Policy Ms Tasia Christodoulopoulou announced that the government is planning to legalize illegal immigrants who have been in the country for 10 years.

The relevant article (Epohi, 10/5/2015) can be read here (in Greek only)

Research Institute for European and American Studies
Newsletter on Immigration to Greece
Editor: Ioannis Kolovos

Illegal immigration crisis or asylum crisis?
The editor of this newsletter differentiated between illegal immigration and asylum and pointed out that Greece's current crisis is a case of the former rather than the latter.

The article can be read in full here (in Greek only)

Research Institute for European and American Studies
Newsletter on Immigration to Greece

Editor: Ioannis Kolovos

Greece's Refugee Crisis and Europe's Failure
A New York Times editorial on Greece's illegal immigration and refugee crisis

The editorial (6/8/2015) can be read in full here (in English)

Research Institute for European and American Studies
Newsletter on Immigration to Greece
Editor: Ioannis Kolovos

Despite the vast increase in illegal immigrant inflow the number of asylum applications in Greece remains low
According to the latest data of the Hellenic Asylum Service, in the period from January to July 2015, 7,469 asylum applications have been submitted.

The relevant article (Kathimerini, 30/8/2015) can be read here (in Greek only)

Turkish migrant smugglers give forged Syrian passports to illegal immigrants
Frontex's Executive Director Mr Fabrice Leggeri pointed out that a large network operates in Turkey which sells forged Syrian passports to illegal immigrants. He also emphasized that due to the great inflow not all immigrants are being screened and thus there is no full picture of the actual profile of all these immigrants