Starting, I have to mention that Greece was a source immigrant country until 70s, only to be turned into a destination immigrant country in 90s. Many Greeks migrated to the US and to Latin American countries the mid-19th century. In the dawn of the 20th century we have the ‘second migration wave’, again towards the US.
After the end of the WW2, the civil war between the communist guerrillas and the nationalist government army begun. During this period and up to 70s many Greeks migrated to the US, UK, France, Sweden, Belgium and Germany and many leftists were exiled or searched for asylum in Eastern Europe. After the Cold War was ended many of the exiled Greeks in Eastern Europe and former USSR repatriated. Along with them, many immigrants from these comparatively poor countries came and Greece became a receiving country.
Albanians were the first to discover Greece, due to the county’s proximity to Greece and the easily “trespassable†borders. Unfortunately Greeks were not kind to the Albanians. Due to civil disorder in Albania, the jails opened up and many criminals entered Greece, bringing a rise to the criminality rate. Albanians were perceived as criminals, an ease reaction of the people. Although some of the Albanians turned to crime activities, the overwhelmingly vast majority of them were honest, family-men who came to work hard and acquire a better living standard. It was Greece’s fault though. For the inexistent immigration policy to prevent criminals from entering the country, the Albanians cannot be blamed. Nowadays, most of the Greeks have changed their minds and do not discriminate against the Albanians, although some nationalist voices still accuse them of unemployment, undermining of the Greek culture and the like. Albanians worked hard in my country, in the farms in the industry, in job-posts that Greeks considered hard enough for them, what science calls “labour intensive jobsâ€.
In the next article you will find more about the immigrants in Greece. We go on with Pakistanis and Asians.
Technorati Tags: immigrants, ethnic groups, Albanians
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