The Greek government is mulling over a regularisation plan for migrants that could result in the legalization of around 300,000 illegal migrants. The plan should help acute labour shortages in agriculture, construction, and tourism.
The minister for migration Dimitris Kairidis told to the public radio that migrants included in this program are either undocumented or with expired residence permits. The government discussed the project on September 26th in a cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Minister Kairidis clarified that the regularisation plan does not want “to create new incentives for further illegal [migrant] flows because that is the danger.” The point of the plan is to “boost public revenue with employment taxes and contributions and help address dramatic [labour] shortages.”
Kairidis pointed at the slowing down of certain public work projects as examples of issues created by labour shortages. These include the completion of a metropolitan service in Thessaloniki and a new airport in Crete.
The proposal arrives as a surge of migrant arrivals swept the country. On September 26th, at least 100 people were rescued as they tried to cross from Turkey to the islands of Lesbos, Samos and Kos.
