THE SECOND GENERATION
Nov 2nd, 2007 by admin
500 people from 10 countries recently received the Greek citizenship by taking the oath in the presence of Athens Prefect Yiannis Sgouros. From Venezuela to Syria, the newcomers to Greek citizenship are predominantly Orthodox Christians. Yet, the second generation – the children of those who finally establish their citizenship will not be able to stay in the country past the age of 18, even if they are born and raised in Greece. A severe gap in Legislation will not allow second generation immigrants to rent an apartment, open a bank account or work legally in Greece.
Ioanna Sotirhou, a journalist from the daily newspaper Elethrotypia specializing on immigration topics says the second generation of immigrants is well established until they become 18. At this age they are not allowed to have a resident permit unless they get a job otherwise they are faced with expulsion from Greece. In many cases they have to go abroad to get a falsified certificate, this enables them to renew their permits like new comers to Greece.
On the other hand the children of Albanians living in Greece can easily get a paper which will always be legal and false because they were born here. The big problem is with the children of African origin.