The government of Greece is planning to put approximately 300,000 illegal migrants to work on public works projects to update the nation’s infrastructure, Anthens’ minister for migration announced on Tuesday.
Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis said that while the government realises that putting illegals to work could incentivise further flows of migration into the Mediterranean country, the move would serve to benefit the country’s ageing infrastructure amid shortages in the labour force, including in the tourist and agricultural industries.
“We do not want to create new incentives for further illegal flows because that is the danger,” Kairidis said in comments reported by The Telegraph.
“On the other hand, we want to go… from undeclared to declared labour to boost public revenue with employment taxes and contributions and help address dramatic shortages in certain sectors.”
Among the projects that could see illegals be put to work on will include the construction of a subway metro system in the city of Thessaloniki, which has faced over a decade of delays following the 2009 financial crisis that crippled the nation’s finances.
In addition, migrants will be put to work on the building of a new airport outside the Cretian city of Heraklion, which also faced delays following the Chinese coronavirus crisis.
While the government has yet to publish details on exactly what form of legal status will be afforded to those who work in infrastructure projects, or in tourism and agriculture, the plan is reported by the EU-funded InfoMigrants site to be modelled off a similar scheme that was implemented in Italy in 2020, when those who overstayed their visas were allowed to apply for a six-month residency permit in exchange for working in an area of economic need.
The initiative comes as Greece, alongside neighbouring Italy, has faced a sharp increase in the number of illegals entering the country, with 18,000 arriving in Greece since the start of the year, a 106 per cent increase over last year.
In response to the crisis, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged during his recent re-election campaign to extend the existing wall with Turkey to cover the entire width of the border between the two nations. Turkey, under Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has previously been accused of attempting to blackmail the European Union with the threat of “opening the gates” of migration through Greece, particularly for Syrian migrants residing in Turkey.
The existing wall between the two countries currently stretches around 37.5 kilometres (25 miles). Under Prime Minister Mitsokakis’ plans, an additional 35 kilometres would be added over the next year and over 100 kilometres by the year 2026 in order to completely seal the border.
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