In recent months, Greece has instigated severe, even draconian austerity measures to combat its debt crisis, addressing the problems that have been highlighted as lying at the heart of its crisis: excessive government spending, tax avoidance by the largest earners, corruption and mismanagement within the administration, etc. The impact of the measures on the Greek public has been severe enough to result in general outcry and protest.
Recent economic indices from Europe’s leading economies, especially Germany, show that they are starting to pull out of their recession. Spending is increasing on tourism, which is good news for Greece, where around one-sixth of GDP and employment is directly tourism-related..
Nevertheless, Greece continues to struggle to bring its economic problems under control. Is there another factor impacting the Greek economy that has not yet been addressed?
The Unrevealed Factor
In the 21st Century, the European Union has seen a flood of illegal immigrants seeking to cross its borders. Strengthening the Coast Guard defenses has severely reduced illegal immigration across the Mediterranean and the Tyrrhenian Sea but until recently little had been done to stem the flow of illegal immigrants coming into Greece across its 128 mile (206 km) land border with Turkey, which has become the primary entry point into the EU not just for illegal immigrants but also drug trafficking and terrorists.
RIEAS (Research Institute for European and American Studies) estimates that there are now as many as 2.5 million illegal immigrants in Greece, a country with less than 11 million legal citizens according to the 2011 census, placing an intolerable burden on the country’s Social and Security Services..
Inadequate Measures being taken by the EU
A 175-person task force has now been deployed in Greece by FRONTEX, the European Union’s Frontier Security Agency, to work alongside the Greek border security agents and police and improve pick-up of illegal immigrants as they cross the border. This does little to ease the burden on Greece, however, because FRONTEX does not have immediate repatriation powers. Once immigrants have crossed the frontier they must go through a lengthy processing procedure at Greece’s expense. Official figures from the Greek authorities report that 45,000 illegal immigrants entered Greece in the first 6 months of this year alone..
The problem is compounded by the EU’s Dublin Convention, whereby illegal immigrants discovered in any EU member state are sent back to the country through which they entered the EU to be processed (in the majority of cases, the illegal immigrants entered through Greece).
Lack of Cooperation from Turkey
There is an Agreement in place between Greece and Turkey but the countries are old enemies and the Turks pay little more than lip-service to the Agreement, accepting back only those illegal immigrants that can be proven to be Turkish nationals.
Despite pressure from the EU, which Turkey is a candidate to join, Ankara is reluctant to accept the return of migrants as it could lead to the deportation of hundreds of thousands of people from the EU back to Turkey.
When contacted by the Washington Post, Yigit Anil Gurer of the Ankara-based Association for Solidarity with Asylum-Seekers and Migrants explained Turkey’s reluctance.:
"It is a huge problem and requires great financial resources and manpower to deal with such a thing. Also, sending those people from Turkey back to their home countries is problematic from the perspective of human rights and Turkey does not want trouble." In other words, Turkey prefers its much smaller neighbor, Greece, to bear the financial and social costs of this problem.
In January this year the European Union finalized a deal with Greece allowing it to send irregular immigrants back to Turkey. Under the agreement, Turkey is required to take back both its own citizens who enter the EU illegally and citizens of other non-EU states who do the same. Turkey, however, is still failing to comply..
Greece Forced to Act Alone
Concerns over the flood of refugees being created by the continuing unrest in the Middle East has now impelled Greece to take unilateral action to try to protect its over-stressed economy. In addition to increasing its land and sea border patrols, it has started the construction of a moat 120 kilometers long, 30 meters wide and 7 meters deep (75 miles x 100 feet x 23 feet) along the Evros River near the Turkish border. The first section 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) long has just been completed near the town of Orestiada in northern Greece. The moat is an extension of a project originally designed to relieve flood pressure on the river.
Hopefully, these actions will serve to mitigate the problem but the length of the land border and the large number of Greek islands offering secluded entry points just off the Turkish coast make radical progress in stemming the determined tide of illegal immigrants very difficult. Without more determination from the EU as a whole to support Greece as the frontline in the struggle against illegal immigration, the Greek economy and social services will continue to be overwhelmed. Measures such as re-implementing border controls between Greece and the rest of the EU, exempting Greece from the Dublin Convention and direct processing and repatriation of illegal immigrants by the member states in which they are discovered will have to be considered. Otherwise, the EU as a whole will have to resign itself to continuing to support the Greek economy to recompense Greece for facing a pan-European problem largely alone.
Sources:
IMF statistics
RIEAS: Destabilization through Illegal Immigration in Greece. http://rieas.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=812&Itemid=89
Washington Post Nov 4 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/04/AR2010110403590.html
Deutsche Welle Aug 7 2011: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15297025,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
Martin Cross - A translator, former chef and marketeer, currently disabled. I write articles on food,, travel, politics, religion and technology.
