Migration in Southern Europe and the Case of Greece

In recent decades, the southern European countries of Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece have all undergone transformation from senders to receivers of migrants. On the basis of this common feature, they have been grouped together in recent discussions of migration experiences and prospects. However, as revealed in comparisons made possible by the newly available data set from Greece's first regularization programme, the migration experience of Greece departs radically from that of other southern European countries. To an extent unparalleled in southern Europe, Greece has been subject to an immigration impact as the result of the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, some of which share borders with Greece. Characteristics of Greece's major source countries differ from those of other countries of southern Europe (1) in that they are former communist countries that appear to have a long and difficult road of economic transition ahead, (2) with respect to proximity, and (3) in terms of dominance of a single source country. These differences have important implications for future patterns of migration and of articulation of the labour markets of receiving countries with those of specific sending countries.