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With migrant inflows rising in Greece and the realisation that the migrant labor market sector was growing and establishing itself outside governmental reach, the 2434/1996 Law was signed to form a “16-member Committee (comprised by representatives from trade unions, self-employed farmers, professional associations, academics and independent experts)” that would draft two presidential decrees aiming to regularize illegal migration (2434/1996, p. 3340; Lazaridis & Poyago- Theotoky, 1999, p. 726 – 727). Moreover “under the weight of severe multilateral criticism, the Greek government… cancelled the exception concerning the citizens of bordering countries’ and opened up legalization to all non-EU citizens (Kiprianos,

Balias & Passas , 2003, p. 158). The outcome was the 358/1997 and 359/1997

Presidential Decrees representing politically the first move towards a more pro- migration environment. The first Presidential Decree 358/1997 titled Conditions and

Process, for the Legal Stay and Employment of Aliens in Greece, That Are Not Members of the State-Members of the European Union, aimed to register aliens to ‘Provisional Residence Cards’ (White Card) and the second Presidential Decree 359/1997 titled Administration of Temporary Residence Card to Aliens, to a ‘Temporary Residence Card’ (Green Card).

Ø 358/1997 Presidential Decree - Conditions and Process, for the Legal Stay and Employment of Aliens in Greece, That Are Not Members of the State-Members of the European Union

Unlike the 1975/1991 law, which was developed to control the increasing inflow of non-nationals, the two Presidential Decrees sought to manage the presence of non-nationals employed or seeking employment within Greek borders. The two main aims of the 358/1997 were defined in Article 1 as being the documentation of the aliens residing illegally in Greece who were either employed or were seeking employment and the commencement of the processes that would lead to their conditional legalisation (358/1997, p. 8718; Lazaridis & Poyago-Theotoky, 1999, p. 726 – 727). Acknowledging the absence of a similar policy up to that point, both Presidential Decrees were introduced to act as a clean slate for the migrant workers who were trapped in illegality under the conditions of the 1975/1991 law. This commitment was clearly stated in the second clause of Article 1 where it was established that the Decree applied to all aliens irrespective of whether they fulfilled the previously established conditions of entry and employment. Breaking away from the restrictive economic migration regime and developing a more laissez-faire

approach, this law allowed aliens of every nationality and occupation to avail the opportunity to take part in the regularisation processes (358/1997, p. 8718).

The Decree called all aliens to report to the nearer OAED office (Manpower

Employment Organization – ΟΑΕΔ, Οργανισµός Απασχόλησης Εργατικού

Δυναµικού) within the five months subsequent to 1st of January 1998 in order to apply for the Provisional Residence Card ‘white card’ and to legalise their stay and employment in Greece. Depending on the number of applications submitted, the deadline could be extended for two more months by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (358/1997, p. 8718). The documents required for this application were:

a) Official statement documenting the alien’s personal details in Greece, i.e.

residence address, occupation, educational qualifications, occupation, employment sector and previous employment in Greece, age and marital status, nationality, country of origin, four photos. If the alien’s employer was a Greek national, the aliens were obliged to declare the details of their employer and the type of their employment relationship

b) Proof of ID in the form of a passport or any other travel document or official

ID or in the absence of the above a certificate from their embassy with their photo certifying that the alien had applied for a passport. If the alien could not provide any of the above, a certificate of the marital status and family ties of the applicant with a photograph certified by the alien’s embassy would suffice. This provision did not apply to those applicants that for political reasons could not provide any of these documents

c) Social Insurance Booklet or a certificate of the application for such a document

d) Copy of the employment contract

e) Health certificate provided by a Greek public hospital certifying that the

alien was not suffering from an infectious disease

f) Certificate of criminal record provided by the Ministry of Justice

g) Certificate of non-entry in the list of undesirable aliens provided by the

subsequent branch of the Ministry of Public Order that holds the list

h) Proof of length of stay in Greece in the form of VISA or registration in any

type of public record

Irrespective of the date of production, the Provisional Residence Card was valid until

the 31st December 1998 (358/1997, p. 8719).

Aside from just applying to the interests of the holder, the White Card also protected the holder’s spouse and children from deportation but restricted the right for employment to the holder (Kraler & Baldwin-Edwards, 2009, p. 300). Despite the fact that regularisation process was open to all migrants meeting the above requirements, it was established that the Minister of Public Order was entitled in the interests of national security and public health to subject White Card holders to specific restrictions in relation to their stay, residence, travel and exercise of some occupations as well as to request them to frequently report to police departments during their stay. Moreover upon the mutual decisions of the Ministry of Labour and National Insurance and the Ministry of Public, the right to deny, suspend or revoke any White Card in the name of national interest could be exercised by these

ministries. If the evoked reasons were on the grounds of the disruption of public order and security and public health, the decision of the Ministry of Public Order was sufficient (358/1997, p. 8719 – 8720).

• Rights and Obligations of Legal Aliens

The White Card not only gave the alien the legal status and protection from deportation, it also guaranteed access to the same labour rights and obligations as national employees according to the subsequent labour policies and legislation and equality before the national law. In practice, it meant protection in relation to salaries, terms and conditions of employment and public insurance as well as accountability towards employee financial obligations and contributions. Nevertheless the Articles of the Presidential Decree were developed under the title of Method and Means for the Documentation of Aliens Residing in Greece instead of a more migrant focused title (358/1997, p. 8720). The intentions behind the development of these two decrees will not be examined at this stage as the aim of this chapter is just to outline the regulations and policies on migration, which will be used in the analysis chapters that follow.

Ø 359/1997 – Administration of Temporary Residence Card to Aliens

The aim of the 359/1997 Presidential Decree, as stated in Article 1, was to address the problem of illegal economic migration through the establishment of the processes and the terms and conditions for the administration of the Temporary

Residence Card (Green Card). The Green Card was administered by OAED

(Manpower Employment Organization – ΟΑΕΔ, Οργανισµός Απασχόλησης

Εργατικού Δυναµικού) (358/1997, p. 8720). According to Article 2, the issuing of the Green Card was conditional upon the:

a) Possession of a White Card

b) Certificate of employment services from the DOY (Public Fiscal Service –

ΔΟΥ, Δηµόσια Οικονοµική Υπηρεσία) certifying that the alien had received

income for 40 days of unskilled labour for the period between 1st of January

1998 till the day of the application (358/1997, p. 8721) The Green Card was valid for 1 to 3 years depending on:

a) The nature of the conducted work and the length of stay and employment of

the alien in Greece

b) The condition and demands of the labour market

c) The interest of the national economy

If the aliens could prove that they had already been living in Greece for five years and they had sufficient financial resources to cover their living expenses, they would be granted a five-year Green Card. This provision was also enabling these

aliens to apply for family reunification (358/1997, p. 8722). After its expiration, the

card could be renewed one or more times for two years at a time. The only condition was that the alien had received the income of an unskilled worker for at least half the days of the original number of days as requested in the conditions of the first application (358/1997, p. 8721).

As for the White Card, the Minister of Public Order for reasons of national security could impose restrictions upon holders of the Green Card with regard to their settlement, stay, travel and the exercise of specific occupations or oblige them to report to police departments on occasions while in Greece. Upon the mutual decision of the Ministers of Labour and National Insurance and Minister of Public Order again, the validity of the Green Card could be either refused or revoked if there were more general grounds for concern in relation to the public interest. If these concerns were on the grounds of threat to the public order and security or public health, the decision of the Minister of Public Order was sufficient (358/1997, p. 8722).

• Rights and Obligations of Legal Aliens

It was also outlined that the Green Card holders enjoyed the same labour rights and had the same obligations with Greek employees in terms of salary, terms and conditions of employment, insurance and other financial obligations and contributions as those were outlined by related labour legislation. The Green Card holders were also subject to the transnational social insurance agreements signed by Greece. Having established the Green Card holders’ access to the same labour, political and legal rights, the services of public administration, as well as the legal representatives of private or public law and the extended public sector were obliged to accept and process any request submitted by an alien who was residing on national grounds in order for them to exercise those rights (358/1997, p. 8723).

Ø Bilateral Agreements

Before the development of the two Presidential Decrees and given the established political practices in relation to economic migration in 1995, an agreement was signed between Bulgaria and Greece on seasonal labour, granting residence permits to Bulgarian nationals for up to three months. In 1996, an agreement on seasonal labour was signed with Albania and ratified by the Greek Parliament during August 1997 (Law 2482 of 1997). According to that agreement, the administered resident permits were valid for only 2 months after which the Albanian nationals had to leave the country as no renewal prospects were available (Lazaridis & Poyago-Theotoky, 1999, p. 726 – 727).

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