Thousands of migrants are set to get their papers legalised in Greece in an effort to alleviate acute labor shortages affecting crucial sectors of the economy.
Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis has pushed through legislation on Tuesday to legalise the status of 30,000 unregistered laborers, causing turmoil within his center-right party.
According to The Guardian, migrants will be able to legalise their status more quickly under the bill, obtaining residence permits in three years rather than seven if they can demonstrate employment.
Despite some who disagree with the legalisation, Greece’s migration and asylum minister, Dimitris Kairidis, defended the one-time move, telling The Guardian, that it will assist with not just labor shortages but also societal cohesion.
The measure has been hailed at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment is fueling far-right support across Europe, with the left seeing it as long overdue.
Source: The Guardian
