Migration has been a dominant phenomenon in the history of the Greek nation since ancient times. Greek colonies were in a position to maintain their language and culture but also to transmit it to neighbouring peoples. Like most South European countries, Greece has experienced a transformation from a country of emigration to one of immigration in recent years.

In the mid-seventies of the twentieth century, Greece began to receive significant waves of repatriated Greeks from “Western” Europe, America and Australia, as well as the Greeks of the Diaspora. In the late 1980s, with the number increasing into the 1990s, Greece also experienced an influx of labour migrants and asylum seekers from the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, as well as refugees and immigrants of Hellenic origin from the former Soviet Union (Pontians) or Albania. Most asylum applicants in 2000 were from Iraq, Turkey and Iran, and most were Kurds. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States, the Greek authorities further restricted access to asylum procedures for refugees. Fearing a large influx of Afghan refugees, the Greek government severely curtailed access to asylum procedures.

Despite lack of infrastructure Greece has received, and is still doing so, a huge number of immigrants. Additionally, populations in the Hellenic territory, which were recognized by the Treaty of Lausanne as a Muslim minority (of Turkish origin, Pomaks, Roma) were long neglected and deprived of participation in education and even today the percentage of illiteracy and school failure among them is still high. Those population changes inevitably influenced society and school life, making both more multicultural. Historically, data on immigration to Greece has been inadequate and often poorly recorded. The absence of statistical data concerning the ethnic and religious status of social groups has also been a chronic problem in Greece. The cultural and linguistic mosaic of Greece was not properly noticed for many years since the recognition of social and cultural heterogeneity is a political process that questions the traditional ethnocentric character of  Greek society and its educational system.

After the 1951 Population Census, the Greek National Statistics Service was prohibited from gathering information concerning national/ethnic origin, language use, or religion. However, the March 2001 Census included a question on the nationality and migration status of the population.

Text based on Fokion Georgiadis’ and Apostolos Zisimos’ poster presentation (2008) titled: Migration and education in Greece: challenge and policy, in theConference ofMarie Curie Migrant Children Project, Department of Geography, University College Cork, titled: Children and Migration: Identities, Mobilities and Belonging(s), 9-11 April 2008, University College Cork, Ireland.

To read the report by IMEPO from 2004 entitled “Statistical Data on Immigrants in Greece: An analytic study of available data and recommendations for conformity with European Union Standards” click here
http://www.imepo.gr/documents/IMEPO_Final_Report_15Nov2004minus_typos_001.pdf

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