On December 19, local time, the Greek parliament approved a bill to allow ** to issue three-year residence and work permits to about 30,000 illegal immigrants to alleviate the labor shortage.
According to the Greek Athens News Agency, the Greek parliament voted on the amendment to the law on the employment of seasonal workers from non-EU countries in the agricultural sector proposed by the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum on the 15th, and 262 of the 295 parliamentarians present voted in favor.
According to the bill, illegal immigrants who have lived in Greece for at least 3 years before November 30 this year and have received a job offer from a local employer are eligible to apply for a residence and work permit for a period of 3 years, with the deadline for applications being December 31, 2024. Greece** estimates that about 30,000 of the approximately 300,000 illegal immigrants currently stranded in Greece meet the criteria.
In response to criticism that the bill sends a wrong message to illegal immigrants, Greece** explained that the move is a one-time measure that only involves a limited number of illegal immigrants.
Since 2015, more than 1 million illegal immigrants have entered Greece, most of them diverting from Greece to other European countries. At the same time, due to the debt crisis and the impact of the new crown epidemic, Greece has a labor shortage in some industries, and the labor gap in agriculture and tourism is about 80,000.