Eventually, who will stay in Greece?

                  The characteristics of Greek emigration due to the current economic crisis is not the central topic of my research, but these TV reports and newspaper articles (see links below) give a good idea about the interconnection between emigration from Greece and immigration to Greece today.According to this media sources, the common trend for many Greeks and foreign work migrants today is to leave the country due to economic reasons: the interdependence of the economic problems of the Greek "employers" and of their foreign "employees" is very clear and logic. Taking into account the unhappy predictions about the duration of the economic crisis in Greece and state loan repayments, I believe that if the volume of emigrants continue to rise, the Greek state which is unable to fight unemployment, might be forced to make changes in its immigration policies and make them more lucrative for work migrants., thus creating an attractive pull factor. Perhaps these changes will be related to facilitation of visa regime for non-EU countries (I have presented and analysed this topic in previous posts), e.g. the faster implementation of EU initiative for the visa-free travel regime for Moldova which is a donor-country of potential migrant workers and a source of cheap labour force (since Moldova is the poorest country in Europe). For Greece all this sounds like a great opportunity.

Some more media sources on Greek emigration today for those who are interested:

1. http://mediacenter.dw-world.de/english/audio/#!/46908/Disillusioned_Greeks_emigrate_to_Turkey
2. http://www.turkishgreeknews.org/ellines-metanasteyoyn-stin-kypro-gia-kalyteri-doyleia-3796.html
3. http://www.newskosmos.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40191:2010-12-21-10-29-35&catid=38:world&Itemid=57
4. http://www.directnews.gr/greece/999-2011-02-04-13-35-57.html
5. http://www.cretalive.gr/new/27543/expatriate/Perissoteroi_Ellines_theloun_na_metanasteusoun_-_ligoi_to_apofasizoun
6. http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_ell_1_29/01/2011_430636

Why is work migration profitable for the EU?

A report in 2000 from the EU's Social and Economic Committee summarizes the causes and asks for further research on the issue of the expanding employment of migrant workers in agriculture. These include:

• the pool of native workers has shrunk as rural-area populations have declined;
• native workers are not attracted to seasonal employment in agriculture and do not always meet the conditions in terms of motivation, skills, and mobility; more importantly, most are not willing to accept low wages and bad working conditions;
• unemployed native workers could lose or see their unemployment benefits reduced if they take low-paying agricultural work, which does not provide the security of full-time employment;
• the temporary employment of migrants makes bargaining with them easier than with native workers;
• employers can more easily avoid making social security payments when they employ migrant workers.

The Greek Case
According to the latest census, the population of Greece increased from 10,259,900 in 1991 to 10,964,020 in 2001. This increase can be almost exclusively attributed to immigration in the past decade. The census shows that the foreign population of Greece in 2001 was 762,191, making up approximately seven percent of the total population.

Most of the jobs migrants undertake are non-skilled, manual work well below their education and qualifications. Although they are mainly employed in construction (24.5 percent), about 17.5 percent work in agriculture. Greek agriculture today employs only 16% of the economically active, native population. 

In intensive cultivation, such as sultana grapes, asparagus, tobacco, greenhouse produce and flower production, and the fruit industry in general, migrants have nearly become the exclusive contributors of wage labor in Greek agriculture. Migrant workers have addressed structural developments in rural Greece, including longstanding labor shortages due to emigration and changes in the rural economy, the younger generation's increasing rejection of rural life and jobs, and the native rural population's growing tendency to obtain non-agricultural employment. 

Local Attitudes Towards Migrants
More than two-thirds of the population of rural areas widely acknowledged the positive implications of migrants' presence primarily because labor shortages were covered, labor costs fell, and consumption expanded. Older respondents and the farming population generally held more positive attitudes towards the migrants while non-farmers and the younger members of households held more negative opinions.

The research indicated that migrant workers were relatively more accepted and integrated in the less-developed rural regions than in the developed ones. This was related to the proportion of migrants in the total population of each region, their family status, and their job characteristics. For example, there seemed to be more acceptance of migrants living permanently in one region together with their families, as opposed to seasonal/irregular laborers traveling without families. 

SOURCE:   http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=337

Foreign migration and socio-economic changes in Greece

Κουπόνια για την αντιμετώπιση της εισφοροδιαφυγής, που φθάνει τα 8 δισ. ευρώ ετησίως, επιστρατεύει το υπουργείο Εργασίας, το οποίο μέσω του υφυπουργού κ. Γ. Κουτρουμάνη, κατέθεσε πρόταση, οι ανασφάλιστοι μέχρι σήμερα οικιακοί βοηθοί και εργάτες στα αγροκτήματα να πληρώνονται με ένα είδος κουπονιού ή επιταγής που θα εξαργυρώνουν στη συνέχεια στο ΙΚΑ ή στον ΟΓΑ.

http://www.tanea.gr/default.asp?pid=2&ct=3&artId=4556225

WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS OF UKRAINIAN AND MOLDOVAN WORK MIGRANTS IN GREECE?

         Η ισότητα στην Ελλάδα έγινε αίτημα τη δεκαετία του ΄80, σημαία στα φεμινιστικά κινήματα και εξελίχθηκε σε υπόθεση ποσόστωσης. Ποια είναι όμως η πραγματική θέση της γυναίκας που ζει και διαμένει σήμερα στη χώρα; Τρεις ανθρώπινες ιστορίες δίνουν τον τόνο καλύπτοντας μόνο μερικές πτυχές της γυναικείας καθημερινότητας. Αφορμή στάθηκε η ημερίδα που διοργάνωσε χθες η Γενική Γραμματεία Ισότητας των Φύλων με στόχο την παρουσίαση του Εθνικού Προγράμματος για την Ουσιαστική Ισότητα των Φύλων 2010-2013.

«Ψιθυρίζουν πίσω από την πλάτη μου»
Καθηγήτρια της ρωσικής γλώσσας στη χώρα της, την Ουκρανία, η κυρία Ελένη Κοβάλ εργάζεται ως οικιακή βοηθός στην Ελλάδα από το 1998. «Οι διακρίσεις... ψιθυρίζονται πίσω από την πλάτη μου» λέει χαρακτηριστικά. «Αφορούν το γεγονός ότι είμαι ξένη, ότι ασκώ το συγκεκριμένο επάγγελμα, ότι κατάγομαι από την Ουκρανία, χώρα που βγάζει -κατά το στερεότυπο- γυναίκες ελευθέρων ηθών, που κλέβουν τους άνδρες από τις Ελληνίδες!».

Η κυρία Κοβάλ, θετική και ψύχραιμη εξ ιδιοσυγκρασίας, εξηγεί ότι «πολύς κόσμος παραξενεύεται στα λεωφορεία και στα τρόλεϊπου με βλέπει να κυκλοφορώ σαν κανονική γυναίκα, καθαρή και περιποιημένη, και όχι ως καημένη μετανάστρια, πεινασμένη, πάντα λυπημένη». Αισθάνεται ωστόσο τη διάκριση του φύλου στο πετσί της όταν μιλάει για τον ρόλο της ως μητέρας. «Δεν μπορώ να δουλέψω με τους όρους που δουλεύει ο άνδρας μου γιατί πολύ απλά δεν ξέρω πού να αφήσω το παιδί μου. Αν υπήρχε φύλαξη, θα ήμουν σε θέση να διεκδικήσω μεγαλύτερη αμοιβήκαι να συμβάλω οικονομικά επί ίσοις όροις στο σπίτι».

ΠΗΓΗ: http://www.tovima.gr/society/article/?aid=356113

___________________________________________________
            
              Among the main problems that Moldovans and Ukrainians share are: 

1. language barrier, 
2. gaps in immigration policy, 
3. difficulties in obtaining of work permit  
4. negative approach of state institutions officer based on their nationality, occupation and sex. 

This automatically leads to economic exploitation, unfair access to services, social security and health services. The most important gap in the immigration policy of Greece is the absence of work permit for 
1. housekeepers at homes and business premises, 
2. domestic workers and elderly/child care workers, 

despite the very high demand for these professions in Greece. In Italy and Spain such work permits exist and 90% of domestic workers in Italy are foreigners from the former USSR. As the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians and Moldovans work in this sphere in Greece, they are virtually working in "shadow" market without the opportunity to enter or stay in the country legally to do this jobs. Off the record: most of these work migrants enter Greece via tourist visas and stay illegally, or enter legally but do not manage to collect enough ενσημα in order to re-new their work permits and hence turn into illegal migrants. 

            Unfortunately xenophobia is very widespread in the Greek society towards foreigners and migrants from the former USSR countries. The example of the Ukrainian woman from this article, who catches weird glances on the bus, realizes that people talk behind her back about her origin and occupation as well as the stereotyped perception of Ukraine as of a producer of prostitutes and women who steal men from Greek women, is disappointing  and humiliating. Such behaviour not only prevents her from social integration and creates psychological problems, but first of all forces her to identify herself with a person of a "second sort", which is highly insulting.  Despite the activity of numerous NGOs in Greece who promote image of Ukraine that is unknown to an average Greek, stereotypes are usually hard to change. So, xenophobia is one of the problems that both Ukrainians and Moldovans come across in Greece.

Comments on the article "Μετάκληση αλλοδαπών ή αλλιώς η αποθέωση της γραφειοκρατίας;"

The described process of hiring foreign workers for legal work in Greece, in my opinion, gives enough explanation of why most employers prefer to deal with illegal foreign workers rather than engage themselves in the process of following the specific state law. It was so tiring to read about this, imagine how tiring the real process is... Taking into account the scale of Greek bureaucracy and of how “fast” things normally work out in this country, such applications are usually either “lost” on their way from one institution to another or take over a year to get to the final point of the arrival of the foreign worker in Greece. Plus, most employers have no wish to show their real earnings and the first stop factor for them is the required provision of tax payments  which gives him the right to apply for employment of a foreign worker (ΕΚΚΑΘΑΡΙΣΤΙΚΟ ΕΦΟΡΙΑΣ).

I do not have a specific opinion about this topic, because on the one hand I realize that this overloaded and somewhat ridiculous chain of actions by various state authorities is meant to protect the local Greek citizens` labour rights which is totally fair, but on the other hand most of the jobs that migrant workers do are of no practical interest for Greek citizens (see the post "Why are work migrants profitable for the EU?") which means that there is no competition between the locals and the foreigners in this case and in most of the cases with foreign workers an employer wishes to hire a SPECIFIC person whom he knows in person and is obliged to go through all this grueling legal process just for typical reasons. If my personal work experience at the Visa Department of the Consulate General of Greece in Odessa during the final stage of the employment process counts, I can say that in the majority of cases the future employees were children of women and men whose employer wanted to hire them for the work that their parents did in the SAME work place. So it was a kind of a family reunion through employment of foreigners` children.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the arrival of the final Greek State Decision (ΚΟΙΝΗ ΥΠΟΥΓΙΚΗ ΑΠΟΦΑΣΗ) to a Consulate is not the end of the story, because the Schengen Treaty passes over the final decision of granting visa to the related Consulate and to the Customs officers of the countries of origin and destination (See below the link to the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Schengen Treaty). This theoretically means that if the Visa Officer of a related Consulate or a Customs Officer at the border has some particular doubts, he is given the right of not allowing the future employee to cross the border of the destination country by either not issuing the required visa (in case of Consulates) or detaining him for another investigation. Although practically in case of legal work megrants it rarely happens.

In my opinion, this article is important for those of us who want to understand the migration policy of the Greek state towards potential foreign work migrants. Its challenges are first, how to effectively control migrant inflows and, second, to prevent legal immigrants from lapsing into illegality and help promote their economic and social integration. I think this article explains quite well  some of the basic reasons why Greece is flooded with illegal work migrants from such post-Soviet states as Ukraine and Moldova.

Sources: 
1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Schengen Treaty.

http://www.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/el-GR/Services/VISAs/ForEmigrants/%CE%A7%CF%8E%CF%81%CE%B5%CF%82+%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%B1+%CF%84%CE%B9%CF%82+%CE%BF%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%AF%CE%B5%CF%82+%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%B9%CF%84%CE%B5%CE%AF%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%B9+%CE%AE+%CE%B4%CE%B5%CE%BD+%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%B9%CF%84%CE%B5%CE%AF%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%B9+%CE%B8%CE%B5%CF%8E%CF%81%CE%B7%CF%83%CE%B7+%28VISA%29%29/

 

Μετάκληση αλλοδαπών ή αλλιώς η αποθέωση της γραφειοκρατίας; Την τελευταία εικοσαετία, η σημαντικότερη μεταβολή στα πλαίσια της κοινωνικοοικονομικής ζωής της χώρας μας ήταν η αθρόα είσοδος αλλοδαπών, υπηκόων τρίτων χωρών εκτός της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, με σκοπό την εξαρτημένη αλλά και την εποχική εργασία. Από νομικής άποψης ωστόσο, το πρόβλημα εντοπίστηκε στην έλλειψη επαρκούς νομοθετικού πλαισίου ικανού να δώσει αρμονικές λύσεις στην νέα αυτή κατάσταση. Ο Έλληνας εργοδότης που επιθυμεί να απασχολήσει με σύμβαση εξαρτημένης εργασίας αλλοδαπούς εργαζόμενους οι οποίοι βρίσκονται στο εξωτερικό, θα πρέπει να λάβει υπόψη την λεγομένη «διαδικασία μετάκλησης» υπηκόου τρίτης χώρας για εργασία, όπως αυτή προσδιορίζεται κατά βάση με την διάταξη του άρθρου 14 του Ν. 3386/2005. Στα πλαίσια αυτής, ο εργοδότης θα πρέπει να υποβάλλει καταρχήν σχετική αίτηση, μέχρι τις 30 Ιουνίου κάθε έτους, προς το Δήμο ή την Κοινότητα του τόπου διαμονής του, στην οποία θα αναφέρει τον αριθμό, την ειδικότητα και το χρονικό διάστημα της απασχόλησης των υπηκόων τρίτων χωρών που προτίθεται να απασχολήσει το επόμενο έτος. Ο Δήμος ή Κοινότητα αποστέλλει την αίτηση στην αρμόδια υπηρεσία Αλλοδαπών και Μετανάστευσης του νομού, η οποία την παραπέμπει στο οικείο παράρτημα του ΟΑΕΔ, προκειμένου να διαπιστωθεί αν η έλλειψη εργατικού δυναμικού μπορεί να καλυφθεί από ημεδαπούς ή νόμιμα διαμένοντες υπηκόους τρίτων χωρών. Τα σχετικά στοιχεία διαβιβάζονται ακολούθως στην Διεύθυνση Αλλοδαπών και Μετανάστευσης της Περιφέρειας, για να πάρει την σκυτάλη η Επιτροπή του άρθρου 14 του Ν.3386/2005, η οποία καταρτίζει σχετική έκθεση, την οποία και προωθεί στο Υπουργείο Απασχόλησης και Κοινωνικής Προστασίας. Η Επιτροπή αυτή, που συγκροτείται με απόφαση του Γενικού Γραμματέα Περιφέρειας, συντάσσει την έκθεσή της εκτιμώντας ειδικά τις ανάγκες της Περιφέρειας σε εργατικό δυναμικό και τις υπάρχουσες κενές θέσεις εργασίας ανά ειδικότητα, νομό και διάρκεια απασχόλησης, με βασικό γνώμονα το γενικό συμφέρον της εθνικής οικονομίας. Εξάλλου, με βάση την παραπάνω έκθεση καθορίζεται με απόφαση των Υπουργών Εσωτερικών, Εξωτερικών και Απασχόλησης, ο ανώτατος αριθμός αδειών διαμονής για εργασία (Κ.Υ.Α 30.183/31.01.2007, 31.564/23.08.2007), που χορηγούνται κάθε έτος σε υπηκόους τρίτων χωρών, ανά νομό, ιθαγένεια, είδος και διάρκεια απασχόλησης, καθώς και κάθε άλλη σχετική λεπτομέρεια, ενώ στην συνέχεια η απόφαση αυτή διαβιβάζεται στις οικείες Περιφέρειες, στον Ο.Α.Ε.Δ., στα συναρμόδια Υπουργεία, καθώς και στις οικείες ελληνικές προξενικές αρχές. Μετά την έκδοση της ανωτέρω κοινής απόφασης, ο εργοδότης που επιθυμεί την μετάκληση υπηκόου τρίτης χώρας για παροχή εξαρτημένης εργασίας, υποβάλλει εκ νέου αίτηση στο Δήμο ή την Κοινότητα του τόπου διαμονής του, δηλώνοντας τον αριθμό, την ειδικότητα και την ιθαγένεια των υπηκόων τρίτων χωρών που προτίθεται να απασχολήσει. Ο Δήμος ή Κοινότητα διαβιβάζει άμεσα τα σχετικά αιτήματα στην αρμόδια υπηρεσία Αλλοδαπών και Μετανάστευσης του νομού, η οποία διερευνά, εάν ο εργοδότης είχε δηλώσει εγκαίρως (δηλαδή έως και την 30η Ιουνίου του προηγούμενου έτους) την πρόθεσή του για μετάκληση υπηκόων τρίτων χωρών, εάν οι σχετικές ειδικότητες έχουν προβλεφθεί στην Κ.Υ.Α. και εάν ο αριθμός τους δεν ξεπερνά τον προβλεπόμενο για το νομό αριθμό θέσεων που μπορούν να καλυφθούν από υπηκόους τρίτων χωρών. Ακολούθως καταρτίζει καταλόγους με τις θέσεις, τις ειδικότητες και την ιθαγένεια και τους αποστέλλει άμεσα στις οικείες προξενικές αρχές. Οι ελληνικές προξενικές αρχές αναρτούν τους σχετικούς καταλόγους και δέχονται τις αιτήσεις υπηκόων τρίτων χωρών. Με βάση τις αιτήσεις αυτές, οι προξενικές αρχές συντάσσουν ονομαστικούς καταλόγους που αποστέλλουν στις οικείες Περιφέρειες, οι οποίες τους προωθούν στους Δήμους και Κοινότητες του νομού, όπου έχει καταγραφεί η συγκεκριμένη θέση που επιθυμούν να καταλάβουν. Ακολούθως, ο εργοδότης υποβάλλει για τρίτη φορά αίτηση στο Δήμο ή Κοινότητα, με την οποία ζητά να μετακαλέσει συγκεκριμένους υπηκόους τρίτων χωρών, επιλέγοντας τους από τον ονομαστικό κατάλογο. Στην αίτηση αυτή επισυνάπτονται τα νόμιμα δικαιολογητικά, όπως το κείμενο της σύμβασης υπογεγραμμένο από τον ενδιαφερόμενο εργοδότη, βεβαίωση του τελευταίου και εγγυητική επιστολή τράπεζας ή ταμείου παρακαταθηκών και δανείων, η οποία αντιστοιχεί σε ποσό ίσο τουλάχιστον με τις τριμηνιαίες αποδοχές ανειδίκευτου εργάτη για την κάλυψη των δαπανών τρίμηνης διαβίωσης του υπηκόου τρίτης χώρας στην Ελλάδα. Ο Δήμος ή Κοινότητα αποστέλλει το φάκελο στην αρμόδια υπηρεσία της Περιφέρειας και ο Γενικός Γραμματέας προωθεί στην αρμόδια ελληνική προξενική αρχή πράξη του, με την οποία εγκρίνεται η απασχόληση του υπηκόου τρίτης χώρας για παροχή εργασίας στον συγκεκριμένο εργοδότη, συνοδευόμενη από τη σχετική σύμβαση εργασίας, προκειμένου να του χορηγηθεί η αντίστοιχη εθνική θεώρηση εισόδου. Η σύμβαση αυτή υπογράφεται από τους ενδιαφερόμενους αλλοδαπούς αυτοπροσώπως μετά από κλήση της ελληνικής προξενικής αρχής και με αυτό τον τρόπο αποκτούν την ειδική θεώρηση εισόδου στη χώρα μας. Αξίζει εντούτοις να επισημανθεί ότι η παραπάνω διαδικασία τυπικά έχει καταργηθεί ως προς τους εργοδότες από τις 01.01.2008 με το άρθρο 5 του Ν. 3536/2007 (ΦΕΚ Α’, αριθμ.42/23.02.2007), παρ’ όλα αυτά συνεχίζεται να εφαρμόζεται, λόγω έλλειψης νομοθετικού πλαισίου, μην έχοντας εκδοθεί ακόμα η προβλεπόμενη με την προαναφερόμενη διάταξη κοινή υπουργική απόφαση. ΠΗΓΗ: http://www.capital.gr/law/articles.asp?id=450782&subcat=105

Who are the potential migrants from Ukraine and Moldova?

              Selected tables from this survey (Source: etf.europa.eu/pubmgmt.nsf/(getAttachment)/.../$File/NOTE85UBH8.pdf), that are presented in this post, give us general mood about the attitude and ideas of Moldovans and Ukrainians towards emigration in search for better life conditions. This research investigated the links between migration and skills, by questioning 2,000 respondents each from Albania, Egypt, Moldova, Tunisia and Ukraine and focused on “potential migrants”  in the age group 18 – 40 years as well as on “returning migrants” who left their countries of origin aged 18 or over, lived and worked abroad continuously for at least six months and returned at least three months before being interviewed. The motivations, expectations and experiences expressed by the two groups of respondents provide an excellent and representative overview of the dynamics of Moldovan and Ukrainian emigration and return migration also in the context of the highly qualified skilled workers. It is obvious that the tendency for leaving the mentioned countries is increasing and in my opinion the most sad of all is that the majority of potential migrants are the youngest citizens who belong to the age category that is usually called the "future" of any country...

Migration, immigration and ageing crisis in Europe

                    In case of donor countries, the push factors and profits for migrants and immigrants were analyzed below, but what made me wonder after watching the video by Dr. Patrick Dixon is that if European countries, due to the ageing crisis in Europe and the necessity for demographic increase pretend not to “see” and do not count the illegal immigrants arriving in their countries, because of the above mentioned benefits, why wouldn`t Moldovan and Ukrainian governments pretend not to “see” the outflow of the illegal work migrants from these countries,  again because of the well-known benefits (remittances, economic development through immigrants earning: construction of new houses in Chisinau, etc.)? In this case the answer why there is such a huge amount of illegal Moldovan and Ukrainian migrants in Europe would be quite clear and, knowing the corruption system and irresponsibility of Ukrainian and Moldovan border guards, this assumption sounds undeniable to me.   The question is how, given the presence of EUBAM in the border regions of Moldova and Ukraine, the illegal migration from the examined countries is getting higher and higher in numbers? In my opinion it is clear that illegal migration is profitable for both parties, which makes its tracing even more complicated because both parties are ignoring the fact.  

ΟΙΚΙΑΚΕΣ ΒΟΗΘΟΙ ΑΠΟ ΟΥΚΡΑΝΙΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ: ΕΛΛΗΝΕΣ ΣΤΑΡ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΕΡΕΟΤΥΠΑ

ΟΙ ΟΙΚΙΑΚΕΣ ΒΟHΘΟΙ ΤΩΝ ΕΠΩΝΗΜΩΝ

Αννίτα Πάνια

Κι εδώ το ζευγάρι δείχνει μια ιδιαιτερότητα, αφού αυτό που απαιτεί είναι η νταντά να είναι… ξενύχτισα! Η Ανίτα είναι πολύ δραστήρια στα του σπιτιού και τη γυναίκα τη χρησιμοποιεί κυρίως ως βοηθό. Θέλει να είναι έμπειρη νταντά και να αντέχει το ξενύχτι αφού ο Νίκος Καρβέλας όλη νύχτα γράφει και παίζει μουσική! Όσο για το… Καρβελάκι; Έχει συνηθίσει τους ήχους και δεν ξυπνάει με τίποτα. Για την… άυπνη Ουκρανή οικιακή βοηθό η Ανίτα διαθέτει 900 ευρώ το μήνα.

Σάκης Ρουβάς – Κάτια Ζυγούλη

Έχουν μια οικονόμο από την Ουκρανία, που την αμείβουν με 1.200 ευρώ το μήνα για τις δουλειές του σπιτιού και μια Αγγλίδα για τη μικρή Αναστασία που πριν την είχε η Μαντόνα, η οποία αμείβεται με πολύ περισσότερα. Ασχολούνται και οι δυο με το παιδί και δεν τσακώνονται ποτέ. Το πάνω χέρι στο σπίτι έχει η Κάτια Ζυγούλη, αλλά στα υπόλοιπα καπετάνιος είναι ο Σάκης.

ΠΗΓΗ:  http://www.gossip-tv.gr/story/74897/ti-apokaluptoun-oi-ntantades-ton-eponumon

ΑΛΛΟΔΑΠΟΙ ΤΖΕ ΤΟΠΑΚΕΣ

Η ΦΕΤΙΝΗ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ, 2010, ΚΑΘΙΕΡΩΘΗΚΕ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΗ ΕΝΩΣΗ ως χρονιά αφιερωμένη σε θέματα για τον ρατσισμό, τους ξένους εργάτες και τους μετανάστες, σε όλη την Ευρώπη και κατ’ επέκταση και στην Κύπρο.

Με αφορμή αυτό, η νέα θεατρική ομάδα «Φώτος Φωτιάδης» παρουσιάζει την κωμωδία «Αλλοδαποί τζε Τόπακες» του Ανδρέα Κουκκινίδη, σε σκηνοθεσία του Φώτου Φωτιάδη. Η ιστορία ξεκινάει όταν μια «ιδιαίτερη» κοπέλα από την Ουκρανία φθάνει στο σπίτι της κ. Μαρίας, σε ένα χωριό της Κύπρου, με σκοπό να εργαστεί στο σπίτι της ως οικιακή βοηθός.

Η Τατιάνα, όπως ονομάζεται η Ουκρανή, από την πρώτη στιγμή φαίνεται πως δεν είναι μια απλή οικιακή βοηθός όπως όλες οι άλλες που είχε η κ. Μαρία, μια και μιλάει άπταιστα Αρχαία Ελληνικά, μια γλώσσα που δεν γνωρίζουν καν οι Έλληνες κάτοικοι του χωριού. Η δικαιολογία αυτού είναι ότι η Ουκρανή κοπέλα στη χώρα της ήταν καθηγήτρια Ελληνικών.

ΠΗΓΗ: http://www.sigmalive.com/city/city%20vibes/theatre/237007

____________________________________________________________

COMMENTS:

I enjoyed a lot reading these three articles, because apart from my research for the university course, it was curious for me personally, as for a Ukrainian female, to see how Ukrainian women are seen in Greek society. The common element in these three articles is a domestic worker from Ukraine, either in real life or in a plot of a theatrical play and TV series. Certainly, the case of the theater performances in Greece and Cyprus points to the fact that a Ukrainian female domestic worker is a common phenomenon in these Greek speaking countries and this specific nationality wouldn`t have been chosen if Greeks were not aware of the 1. Existence of Ukrainian domestic workers in Greek families` households 2. The stereotypes about females from Ukraine related to their country of origin, their appearance, their behavior, their funny way to express themselves in the foreign to them Greek language - all of which, I assume, are presented with ironic and humoristic overtones (otherwise the role of a Ukrainian domestic worker wouldn`t have been used in a comedy theatrical play). (See more details on this topic in the post"What are the problems of Ukrainian and Moldovan migrants in Greece?)

The case of big Greek show-biz stars, who have their children taken care of by Ukrainian domestic workers, is very indicative. Taking into consideration the current economic crisis in Greece where the minimal salary was reduced to approximately 600 Euros per month, the idea of Ukrainian domestic workers gaining 900 Euros and 1.200 Euros per month would sound outrageous to any Greek woman (especially unemployed). According to most major surveys, work migrants from Ukraine in the countries of EU, including Greece, are females and are engaged in domestic work, taking care of children and of the elderly. This fact, on the one hand, indicates the position of (often high educated) Ukrainian women in European countries (e.g. the mentioned Ukrainian domestic worker Tatiana, who speaks Ancient Greek) who are forced to do unqualified work abroad despite their education background, and on the other hand the position of an emancipated Greek woman who has other priorities in her life rather than simply to be a mother and a spouse and who is able to hire a domestic worker. The positive effect for the domestic worker is the ability to help her family back home by sending a part of her salary in the form of remittances, and for the Greek mother as well who, with the help of the migrant, has more time for her personal life, career and intellectual development. The most important negative effect, though, is the common outcome of any transnational family: the partial isolation from the family, the inability of real participation in the lives of her spouse and children, the effect on wife-husband relations in terms of gender (the man gradually stops to be the “breadwinner” and the woman is getting used to take up new, more “male” roles), inability to make more children, etc.

When we speak about transnational families in Greece, it is important to mention two ways for Ukrainian (and Moldovan) migrant worker`s family to travel to its overseas relative: 1. By tourist/guest visa 2. By family reunion in the country of the work migrant`s employment. In the first case we speak about Consulates and Embassies which issue Schengen visas, based on specific number of papers provided by the inviting part (in case of a parent and a child, they require the parent abroad to prove his ability to cover the expenses of their childs` short visit, who is allowed to stay in Greece for no more than three months at a time as well as guarantee his return back home). In case of family reunion the procedure requires that the parent abroad has been working and living in Greece for at least two years and has all the necessary financial/housing/insurance, etc. conditions for bringing his family members to his destination country. The majority of legal work migrants tend to choose the second option, because in case of short-term guest visits by family members, basing on Schengen requirements and peculiar guidelines for Visa Officers of Greek Consulates  and Embassy in Ukraine*, incredibly often such applicants get refused to get visas, because of the Visa Officer`s suspicions that they may stay in Greece illegally. The latter contributes first and foremost to disappearance of close ties between the members of transnational families. 

* There is the Embassy of Moldova in Greece, but there is no Greek Embassy or Consulate in Moldova. For this reason Greek Schengen visas for Moldovan citizens are issued by the Embassy of Greece in Ukraine and by the Consulate General of Greece in Odessa.
 

ADDITIONAL SOURCES FOR DETAILED INFORMATION:
1. Ukraine remittances back home: http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2010/07/30/ukraine-remittances-home-are-no-small-deal/

2. Moldova-EU Relations: http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/moldova/eu_moldova/political_relations/eu_moldova_relations_deliverables/index_en.htm

3.  Ukraine-EU Relations: http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/ukraine/index_en.htm

4.ΙΝΣΤΙΤΟΥΤΟ ΜΕΤΑΝΑΣΤΕΥΤΙΚΗΣ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗΣ: http://imepo.gr /Content4.aspx?C=41&PG=2

5. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, visa issues: http://www.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/el-GR/Services/VISAs/Schengen+visas/

ΚΥΡΙΕΣ ΧΩΡΕΣ ΠΡΟΕΛΕΥΣΗΣ ΜΕΤΑΝΑΣΤΩΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

ΠΗΓΗ: ΕΝΩΣΗ ΜΕΤΑΝΑΣΤΩΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ        URL: www.eme.org.gr

__________________________________________________________________

Migration to Greece is a relatively recent phenomenon and the shift from emigration to immigration country caught Greece unprepared in terms of migration policy.  In spite of the increasing demand for domestic workers in Greece, the Greek government does not issue work permits for domestic work (unlike Italy and Spain). As a result, a great volume of these women live and work illegally in the so called "informal sector" of Greece, what makes it times more difficult to calculate how many work migrants from Ukraine and Moldova live in Greece. According to the table of the Immigrants Union of Greece, Ukrainian migrants come up to 4,2% of the total Greek population and Moldovan migrants - to 2,19% relatively.  

According to Census (2001), there were 41.532 foreign workers (65% of the total volume of migrant workers) in the Attiki Prefecture, out of whom 38.815 were females, out of whom 3.105 were of Ukrainian origin. In order to understand the general image of a Ukrainian work migrant in Greece, here is a brief profile (based on results of the survey by Psimmenos and Skamnakis):

Employment as:     domestic workers, performing various household chores 

                                domestic workers, taking care of children and the elderly;

Social security:      82% are socially secure (their testimonials);

Working hours:      81% work over 40 hours per week.

Average salary per month:        607 Euro (from 400 Euro to 1.000 Euro)

It is important to point out that the increasing needs in the care sphere are the result of the Greek ageing society with low fertility rates as well as female liberation and their integration in labour sectors. Therefore, female migrants facilitate Greek womens` employment, what contributes to changes in gender relations between Greek man and Greek women as well as changes in socio-economic structure of Greece. 

In my opinion, the reasons for choosing Ukrainian female migrants for this particular job and not Moldovan ones, are based on the well-known stereotype of a modest, obedient Slavonic woman who is a caring mother and a good housewife. Therefore, a Greek mother when choosing a babysitter for her child would give a kind of "an advance of trust" to a Ukrainian domestic worker rather than to a Moldovan one.

Due to the fact that the majority of female work migrants from Moldova were working in agricultural sector  back home, they are mostly engaged in the agricultural sector in Greece either on short-term base (seasonal work) or on long-term base (permanent employment).

Therefore, the first important conclusion that we can make is that even though normally both Ukrainian and Moldovan work migrants originate from rural areas of their home countries, Ukrainian females are usually employed as domestic workers and care for the elderly and children, while Moldovan females are usually engaged in the agricultural sector.

Managing migration: a new European Strategy for Ukraine and Moldova

              The phenomenon of migration as a positive or negative process is debatable, but in the case of a Moldovan migrant working in Israel it is definitely positive: with the money saved from legal work, caring for the elderly, she managed to buy an apartment in the outskirts of Chisinau (capital of Moldova) and what is important - is planning on legal re-employment abroad. As we see from the video, the European Union has undertaken certain important initiatives in the region, by establishing organizations which help returned work migrants find legal work in Moldova as well as EUBAM, a fully funded by the EU mission with headquarters in Odessa (Ukraine) which works on the Moldovan and Ukrainian border an advisory and technical body and aims to work with Moldova and Ukraine to harmonise their border management standards and procedures with those prevalent in EU member states and promote of cross-border cooperation in the framework of the European Nrighbourhood and Partnership Initiatives.

 

Despite the EU initiative of organizing an office for employment of the returnees, I believe that it will not give high results, as the majority of Moldovans of working age will prefer higher salaries abroad rather than employment at home with very limited financial opportunities.  

 

The issue that Europe has been worried about recently is ageing crisis and thus it is clear that these are the immigrants who are to make up for the demographic decrease (see the video on Migration, Immigration and ageing crisis in Europe, 19/03). In this respect, on the one hand, immigrants help European population grow and on the other hand Europe achieves relatively cheap labour power which contributes to its economic development. In this way, the case of two Moldovan students from the video who are studying in Brussels is curious: the young girl states that the investments which she makes into her education abroad will help her find decent work in Chisinau. The fact that a Moldovan student doesn’t consider finding ways to stay in Belgium sounds encouraging, as her native country is in need for young professionals to boost the country`s development. On the other hand, unfortunately, personally I have strong doubts that her dreams will come true and, after having got used to civilized environment, she will be eager to return to the dull environment of poverty and misery of Moldova, and thus most probably will become one of the many legal or illegal migrants in Europe.

Remittances of Moldovan labour migrants back home

In this video two important interdependent questions rise: 1. children and transnational families (= families where one or more members live and work abroad), 2. remittances and transnational family welfare.

The astonishing fact that little children, whose parents are forced to work abroad and therefore are taken care of by their grandparents who hardly make the ends meet arise for our consideration such painful issues as the future of the children of immigrants. Obviously, in the case of Moldova, even with the financial aid of their parents through remittances, these children have scarce opportunities for proper education and breeding and, despite of living with their grandparents, are virtually left alone. The psychological trauma of being deprived of parents` love, attention, guidance and control will leave a clear imprint not only on their personal lives but, respectively, on society in general. The practice of leaving children behind in the care of distant relatives, neighbours or even alone is rather widespread in Moldova and Western Ukraine, where the scale of external work migration is large. 

From this video we find out that 1/3 of children in the village school have one parent working abroad and 1/5 have both parents overseas. With the first attempt of comparison of Moldova and Ukraine in terms of transnational families, here I would like to provide a short statistics of Ukrainian transnational families: according to a sociological survey, which studied a situation of Ukrainian females working in Italy and Greece, 94 % of interviewed women left their children behind in Ukraine. Most often children stay with their fathers, but in families of mothers or both parents working abroad, 66 % are left behind in the care of grandparents, and 33 % more stay unattended. Thus, we can come to a logic conclusion that in spite of being significantly better off than children of parents working in Ukraine and Moldova, these “transnational” children are deprived of natural experience of family socialization, lack pedagogical guidance and control, emotional and spiritual support and often get into the category of “problem children” with various criminal tendencies.

I also found interesting the fact that in the first part of the video, a child of an immigrant is presented as a victim, but in the second part (the example of a sewer at a textile factory) a child is depicted as a “stop factor” for a woman who is willing to go abroad for work but has nobody to take care of her child. 

With the quarter of the Moldovan population living abroad and understanding of immigration as “mixed blessing” for them, remittances play an important role both for the economy of Moldova and for the development of living standards in any individual case. So in case of Moldova is emigration more a negative or a positive phenomenon?.. The answer depends on the approach: whether we consider this fact from Moldovan or Greek point of view. The estimated volume of work migrants` remittances to Moldova, going up to one billion USD per year leads us to conclude that migration is economically profitable both for the Moldovan state and for the migrants` families. Nevertheless, the consequences for the economies of the receiving countries are not mentioned (this issue will be presented in upcoming posts).

European Journal. Moldova: Involuntary Nation-State

I consider this video to be an excellent example of the reasons for massive immigration of Moldovan citizens overseas. It is short, yet informative and sets a great volume of vitally important questions e.g. the reasons for immigration itself and its promotion (billboards advertising immigration to Canada), broken families and children who suddenly became “orphans” despite de jure having parents (the majority of schoolchildren whose parents work abroad), faith in God and inability to live decent “God-promised” life (the priest`s words: "You have to suppress you desires and be satisfied with basic necessities. Young people have faith, but still give up after a time: they just can`t cope with this kind of life".),  access to food and inability of purchasing it, exploitation of the poor by foreign companies and globalization, education + culture and poverty, racism and stereotypes, which immigrants and work migrants come across when moving to other countries. 

As a person who has travelled to Moldova on several times, I can safely say that this video reveals the Moldovan reality: the only place that is different from what you saw is the capital of Moldova – Chisinau with its 5 star hotels, casinos, supermarkets and restaurants. The rest of the country is comprised of villages which share the same unpromising landscape, socio-economic problems and numerous houses, abandoned by Moldovan work migrants and illegal immigrants. Basically this video speaks for itself and by revealing the push factors for mass emigration leads us to specific conclusions which make us understand that decent life conditions in Moldova are if not non existent, then definitely far from EU and any humane standards. In a way my point is proven by the testimonials of ex, to-be Moldovan work migrants and non migrants, who in terms of a survey, conducted by the International organization of Migration of Moldova, answered the following questions:

In my posts I am going to present and analyse general information about work migrants from Ukraine and Moldova in Greece what will help you understand the main push and pull factors, the age/education/skills/etc. image of work migrants of the two countries, the problems that they come across in Greece and the origins of these problems, as well as costs and benefits of work migration for the migrants` families, for their countries of origin and destination. Due to the fact that Greece is a hard and quite "closed" country for foreign investment, there are very few Ukrainian and Moldovan businessmen who operate in Greece, that is why I am going to focus  on work migrants only.