ABSTRACT

This chapter analytically reviews the main features of immigration policy in Greece since the early 1990s. It presents the demographic and socio-economic profile of the immigrant population and critically discusses their limited participation in Greek public life. The chapter also presents a short overview of media discourses on migration and highlights the selective representations and references of migrants that persist, both in terms of use of language and choice of news items. The situation has been characterized by administrative and political confusion with regard to migration policy, and an over-representation of irregular/illegal immigrants working in conditions of informality across the Greek economy. In Greece, immigrant participation in public life has been hampered by the long-standing undocumented or insecure status of most immigrants. Modern Greece is now fully integrated in the European Union and the Eurozone, albeit still with a very large informal economy that is very difficult to combat.