Greece: Whether an Albanian citizen of Greek origin who entered Greece unlawfully can work in Greece and whether his children can attend Greek schools

The following information on whether an Albanian citizen of ethnic Greek origin who has entered Greece illegally can work, is supplementary to that contained in GRC17962.E of 24 November 1994, Country Reports 1997 , and HRW World Report 1998.

The Macedonia Press Agency reported on 27 June 1997 that two proposed presidential decrees would

...provide for the registration of all foreigners living and working in Greece, in the period from September 1 to December 31, 1997, the issuing of a renewable residence card, the safeguarding of equal rights in work and taxation, the enactment of incentives for the registration of foreign workers and the implementation of penalties on employers, who do not declare their foreign employees.

The Greek Helsinki Monitor and Minority Rights Group - Greece noted that the proposed decrees initially excluded illegal immigrants from neighboring countries (29 June 1997). On 3 December 1997 these groups indicated that the presidential decrees, as presented to the public on 2 December 1997 by the Ministry of Labor, had removed this qualification and thus:

Specifically, every illegal alien is given the possibility to make a simple application for legalization, which automatically ensures legal status up to 31/12/98, and has the potential within the time limits of 1/1/98 to 31/5/98, to gather the required number of 40 workdays, and present all the required documents, among which must be his criminal record from the country of origin... the issuing of a five-year residence permit for all of the tens of thousands of immigrants who have already spent five years in the country, along with their right to bring members of their families... the steps taken for the re-examination of their applications by a second review board on appeal, the right to change the work and social security situation, as well as the exception of issuing permits on humanitarian grounds, even if such immigrants haven't fulfilled all the decrees' requirements.

The Research Directorate is unable to determine, within the time constraints of this Response, whether the presidential decrees referred to above have been implemented.

For information on whether the children of an Albanian citizen of ethnic Greek origin who has entered Greece illegally, can go to school in Greece please refer to the attachment of GRC26942.E from the Hellenic Republic Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Greek Helsinki Monitor and Minority Rights Group - Greece. 29 June 1997. "Topic: 'The Real Hypocrisy of Pseudo-Modernism' On the Occasion of the Presidential Decrees About the (Non) Legalization of Illegal Immigrants. The Leadership of the Ministry of Labour Should Resign."[Internet] [Accessed 5 Oct. 1998]

_____. 3 December 1997. "Topic: Our Position on the Presidential Decrees on Migrants' Legalization." [Accessed 5 Oct. 1998]

Macedonia Press Agency. 27 June 1997. "Two Presidential Decrees Will Determine the Status of Foreigners Working in Greece""[Internet] [Accessed 5 Oct. 1998]