I am from Ukraine. I am 55 years old, and I have been in Greece for 22 years. I have a residence permit as an immigrant. When Karamanlis was prime minister, a law was first issued allowing residence permits to be granted for three years, even to those without papers.
There is exploitation of migrants at work. The positions we have access to mainly concern work in factories (where they exist), construction, waste collection and cleaning. In the past, these jobs were mainly done by immigrants, but now many Greeks are also employed. Migrants often need to hire lawyers to ensure they stay in work. But language is also a big obstacle. Many of us have studied, but without knowing the language, we cannot work in the subject of our studies. There is no formal training in the language by any institution. Learning the language takes time, something migrants don’t have, as they work all day. However, whoever has the legal documents has the rights of the unemployed. In Ukraine we say: If you have papers, you are human. If you don’t have papers, you’re nothing.
There is the possibility of recognition of studies, but it requires time and money, as well as language proficiency. However, migrants urgently need work and money, so they do not have this possibility. It’s a vicious circle. There are no jobs for young people who are just finishing their studies. Is it possible for us, who are 50 years old, to find a job with our degrees? The state does not help at all. It is very rundown and outdated.
Compared to other sectors, the health situation is better, as there is access to medicines free of charge or at a lower price, as long as you have the legal documents.
There is no help for migrants in terms of housing.
Laws as they stand do not help immigrants. In order to obtain a residence permit, they ask for many documents, such as a house contract that the landlord may not give, expensive fees and a tax return that requires me to be registered at work. Obtaining citizenship is very difficult, and the process of issuing documents is complicated.
It is important to be able to have our family members close to us. As a mother, I cannot bring my child to Greece because he is over 18. In 2014, during the war in Crimea, I wanted to bring it here, but I couldn’t. Foreigners have no rights. What rights do we have? I don’t get any allowances from anywhere. Living is difficult, as rents are high, life is expensive and wages are low.
When a person lives here, he must participate in all processes of society. It would be very helpful if there was a Ukrainian club in Crete to settle our documents. Online services are not very helpful. I would like to actively participate in the establishment of a Ukrainian club in Crete that will provide real help and support, because at the moment there is none. The laws on the acquisition of Greek citizenship should be changed and language courses should be provided. But it seems futile to say so.
