The Greek authorities have said that the country plans to regularize the status of more than 300,000 migrants who are currently in the country in an attempt to help different sectors facing labour shortages.
Announcing the country’s plans, the Minister of Migration of Greece, Dimitris Kairidis, said earlier this week that by integrating irregular migrants, the authorities plan to mainly alleviate the shortages in the construction, agriculture, and tourism sectors.
Moreover, Minister Kairidis said that the plan includes irregular migrants who do not hold any documents as well as those whose residence permits have expired.
As the Financial Times explains, apart from announcing the country’s plans, Minister Kairidis argued that this initiative would not encourage more irregular migration to Greece. Instead, he said that the initiative would help in boosting public revenues and help address shortages in certain sectors.
Even though the plan to regularise over 300,000 migrants and integrate them into the labour market has been announced, the authorities said that they still need to formalise it but did not give any specific date.
Due to its geographical position, Greece is one of the European Union countries that registers a high number of irregular migrant entries each month.
The Greek authorities revealed previously that the number of migrant arrivals in August was three times higher than in the same month last year. According to the authorities, a total of 715 migrants arrived in Greece in August of this year.
Moreover, as the Financial Times notes, this month, Greece registered a high number of migrant arrivals, too. According to the latter, since the beginning of September 2023, around 7,000 people have arrived in the islands of Greece, thus pushing the capacity of migrant facilities to their limits.
The government of Greece has been criticised over the years for its harsh treatment of migrants, and the same has said that it will continue to be fair and tough at the same time.
Minister Kairidis said for the Financial Times that despite the country planning to regularise the situation of hundreds of thousands of migrants and integrate them into the labour market, the authorities would continue to guard the borders diligently.
The same stressed that the authorities would also continue to provide “humane conditions for asylum seekers.”
Of all the sectors, the Greek authorities have said that agriculture has been significantly impacted by the labour shortage.
Some labour centres have already said that due to the low number of workers, a large amount of fruit is going to waste. They have also called on the government to take measures as they are unable to complete the harvest without additional help.
