RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN STUDIES
RESEARCH PAPER

No. 145
SEPTEMBER 2010

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION A MULTIFACETED NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: THE CASE OF GREECE

by IOANNIS KOLOVOS

(RIEAS research associate on the issue of illegal immigration. He is the author of the books “Pandora’s Box: Illegal Immigration and Regularisation in Greece” (Athens: Pelasgos Publications, 2003) and “The End of a Utopia: the collapse of multicultural societies in Western Europe” (Athens: Pelasgos Publications, 2008).

The national security threat in detail

The aforementioned situation has resulted in a (self-inflicted!) multifaceted national
security threat against Greece. The most self-evident strand of this threat is that large
numbers of people enter and remain in the country illegally and are of unknown origin
and motives. Their motives may range from purely economic (employment, higher
salary) to quite sinister (criminality, terrorist acts). More specifically, the national security
threat takes the following forms:

1) Criminality and ghettoization

The uncontrollable influx and settlement of very large numbers of illegal immigrants in
Greece’s major cities has resulted in the creation of “no-go areas” and ghettos,
especially in Athens’ city center! Not surprisingly, criminality is rife and ethnic clashes
and riots are commonplace in these areas13.

Moreover, another symptom of Greece’s
flawed immigration policy is the very significant contribution of foreigners in serious
crimes such as homicides, robberies, thefts and burglaries and rapes14. This
“contribution” ranges from 33% for homicides to 51% for thefts and burglaries (data for
arrests in 2009). Albanians, being by far the largest ethnic community, are also
responsible for a significant part of the imported criminality.

According to a recent confidential Police report15 42 criminal organizations from Albania operate in Greece. About 3,000 Albanian criminals are active in the transportation and distribution of
cannabis and heroin, while 2,500 Albanians are arrested each year in Greece for
robberies, thefts and burglaries...................

more see; http://www.rieas.gr/images/rieas145.pdf:

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