I am 57 years old, from Syria, and I have been in Chania since 1993. I have Greek citizenship since 2007.
I arrived in Greece as a student and thus managed to get easily a visa and student residence permit. As a student I was obliged for 1 year to learn the language at the University of Athens with an Arabic-speaking teacher. During this time, I only had a student discount for ferry tickets, no other financial support. I was studying at the Technical University of Crete in the Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, a different field from the one I was studying in Syria, where I was studying journalism. I studied for 2 years and then I interrupted my studies because I had to work. I had a long bureaucratic process to manage to reach Greece as a student. My brother had gone through the process before me, so I knew exactly what to do.
My two brothers helped me to find work. I was a craftsman and already knew the job well, I immediately won the trust from employers. To this day, they themselves call me for work. I didn’t look for jobs outside of construction. Then the wages were very good. Life is now more expensive and wages are lower. Even without knowing the language, because I had the knowledge of the job, I found jobs in construction and communicated with signs. I had access to unemployment rights and twice entered an unemployment fund. Sometimes employers tried to find a way to pay less because I was an immigrant. They used to say to me: “The Greek doesn’t get that much, will you?” I didn’t let those words affect me. To this day, 29 years later, they say to me “Are you Syrian, will you return to your homeland or will you stay in Greece?” They always see us as strangers.
I had a social security insurance as a student until 2001. In 2001 I applied for a residence permit for work and then I obtained IKA insurance. There is no interpreter in health facilities.
I never needed to search for a house because two of my brothers already lived here, so I stayed with them when I arrived. The house was in poor condition and with low rent. I renovated it with my own money and I live there with my own family to this day.
There must be support in the language. It is also important to educate immigrants about the mentality of the new country, laws, manners and customs so that they can integrate. If society embraces them, it will help them. There must also be support in finding work, whether it is finding them jobs or training them in a job.
In order to vote and participate in public affairs, one must acquire Greek citizenship, but generally he has freedom of speech and the immigrant can express himself. That is right and reasonable. We have the right to create clubs. Three times a Syrian association has been drafted, and I was a founding member and member of the committee. They provided support to Syrians in various bureaucratic procedures. It was dissolved for various reasons. I also help in other ways on a personal level, e.g. finding a job, I provide financial support and many times I have offered translation services. There is no association now or any organization that offers help in such matters. People who come here need time and guidance. I would like to be part of an effort to educate and guide them. When I was at the club, those were the proposals I personally made. If I knew that I could have some outside support, I would like to start such an initiative again, even to set up my own organisation to provide such assistance. In an assembly with the Municipality, these were proposed in the presence of a deputy mayor, but there was no substantial response.
