3 Migrants in the Greek Labour Market
Scholarly research on migrant labour in Greece has predominantly concentrated on two principal domains. The first domain entails an analysis of the legal framework regulating the mobility and integration of third-country nationals. For example, Triandafyllidou (2009) asserted that Greek immigration policy remained for more than decades incomplete and short-sighted, dealing with immigration as a necessary evil and not as an opportunity, for the simple reason that full integration of migrants into Greek society may have affected the election outcomes.
The second domain addresses the historical migration patterns, emphasizing Greece’s evolution from a country of emigration to one of immigration (King & Black, 1997; Mavrommatis, 2022; Triandafyllidou, 2015; Triandafyllidou & Maroukis, 2012; Χολέζας, 2017). Greece’s geographical position makes the country a primary European entry point for many African and Asian immigrants and a crucial transit route for undocumented immigrants (Papadopoulou, 2004).
On the other hand, policy reforms, such as Law 3838/2010, which granted the automatic right to acquire Greek citizenship for migrant children born or educated in Greece, along with the two regularization programmes between 1997 and 2007 and the lifting of mobility restrictions within the Schengen area, created new opportunity structures for migration and mobility patterns, particularly in industries like tourism and agriculture (Fratsea & Papadopoulos, 2020). For instance, nationals from Romania and Bulgaria no longer face restrictions on residence and employment in Greece since both countries joined the EU in the mid-2000s. Meanwhile, for immigrants from Albania without a valid residence permit, border crossing has been made easier by the abolition of the visa requirement in 2010.
Nevertheless, many migrant workers in Greece continue to be less visible because they engage in seasonal and informal work, while many migrants and refugees have to wait in Greece for months or even years often living in extreme conditions, as has been highlighted in relevant studies both in the agricultural context (Kasimis et al., 2015;
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L. KRETSOS AND V. CHARITSIS