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- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 20 January 2010 14.30 GMT
The Greeks are known the world around as a hospitable, openhearted people, and, in my experience, they genuinely are. In view of that, as well as the fact that Greek immigrants have lived and worked in the US, Germany, Australia and elsewhere for decades, one would expect a general consensus on pro-immigrant policies in Greece. But a recent government legislative proposal that will grant citizenship to second-generation immigrants born in Greece has caused a widespread, intense outcry.
The white paper for the legislation was uploaded on the government's debate blog. The "gems" I read posted there tied my stomach in a knot: "The motherland is endangered"; "This law constitutes high treason. It amounts to legalised settlement-building in the country by hordes of illiterate, impoverished Muslims"; and, most popularly, "You are born Greek, you don't become Greek". Elsewhere on the web, the prevailing conspiracy theory is that immigrants from Northern Africa bring diseases, those from the Middle East import terrorism, the ones from the poorer Balkan countries in the north are claiming Greece's territory and that all this is a co-ordinated coalition of international dark forces, aimed at depriving the Greeks of their land and national identity. More alarmingly, in a rare act of violence against the Jewish population of Greece, the synagogue in Crete's town of Chania has suffered two arson attacks in the space of ten days.
Worrisome as these outbursts of racism are, one could argue that they are not indicative of the average Greek's feelings on the matter. Yet a poll published in the Greek paper Eleftherotypia last Saturday does not help paint a clearer picture: 53% of those asked agreed that second-generation immigrants should be granted citizenship; 50% believed that immigrants pose a threat to the country and another 50% that they adversely affect national identity. However, 80% stated that any racist behaviour should be punished and 70% were in favour of the slogan "we are all different – we are all equal".
Greek immigration policy has historically been absent or ineffectual. The country is an external EU border and because of its geographical position, it is the first stop every year for thousands of immigrants and refugees, seeking a better economic environment or fleeing war zones. The policy vacuum results in several thousand people living on the margins of Greek law and society, culminating – as has happened elsewhere in Europe and the US – in an increase in criminality. Current economic insecurity exacerbates the concern about local jobs lost to immigrants; this too is common across the developed world.
One must also keep in mind that Greece is one of the least ethnically diverse countries in Europe. Population exchanges to achieve a high level of homogeneity were the most common policy of population engineering that came after the end of the first world war. By the mid-1920s, claims to national purity were rather well founded: approximately 99% of the inhabitants of Greece considered themselves ethnically Greek and religiously Greek Orthodox Christians. This has traditionally played an instrumental role in national politics, especially when sovereignty and identity are thought to be "at stake".
The current political climate is also contributing adversely to the debate about the proposed law. In the October elections, Pasok swept the votes of the centre of the political spectrum. The major opposition party, Nea Dimokratia – an uncomfortable coalition of conservatives, liberals and generic "centrists" – is now vying for votes further on the right, where the party's new leader Antonis Samaras belongs. Nea Dimokratia is trying to squeeze out Laos, a typical small nationalist-populist party represented in parliament. This situation has practically moved the mainstream debate regarding immigration to more extreme argumentation, with ND outright rejecting the law proposal and Laos demanding a referendum over the issue, while accusing the government of social and political engineering and tampering with the composition of the electorate.
Three different factors are therefore contributing to the widespread disapproval of what seems to be a fair law. The first is traditional sentiment – though less prominent in the younger generations – that Greece is a country of Greeks and the rest are, normally unwelcomed, guests. The second is the policy vacuum, which has led to a rise of illegal immigration and failure in social integration giving citizens plausible reasons to fear for their jobs and safety. The third is the current political environment and the role of Nea Dimokratia in particular, which multiplies the impact the previous two factors have on public opinion.
Greek public opinion must not join the bandwagon of European rightwingers, driven by a rejection of non-Christians and fuelled by economic uncertainty. It is up to moderate governments, Greece's included, to ensure that irrationality is extracted from the immigration debate. It is their responsibility to push forward well-designed, well-implemented policies that will protect their countries' social, political and economic stability while integrating legal immigrants. If they fail, these governments will be more responsible than the Euro-nationalists for what will ensue.
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