The ELIAMEP Migration Research Team

Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou, Dr. Thanos Maroukis, Dr. Ruby Gropas, Ms Michaela Maroufof, Ms Despina Syrri, Ms Marina Nikolova, Ms Kleopatra Yousef, Ms Angeliki Dimitriadi

Speech of Thanos Maroukis, researcher of the ELIAMEP Migration Team, in the Hellenic Parliament

On the 30th of March 2011 Dr Thanos Maroukis, researcher of the ELIAMEP Migration Team,  gave a speech on the current situation of irregular migration in Greece during the meeting of the Special Standing Parliamentary Committee for Monitoring the Social Security System on the theme of ‘Irregular Migration and Repercussions on the Social Security System’. His speech began with a categorisation and a population estimate of irregular migrants currently residing in Greece. Then, based on the conclusions of the relevant research programs undertaken by the ELIAMEP Migration Team, he spoke about the problems associated with the categories of irregular immigrants in question (such as loss of legal residence status, growth of undeclared work) and the effects they may have on the social security system (such as a drastic reduction of social security contributions). He concluded with a set of policy recommendations on irregular migration, which revolved around two axes:  avoiding the loss of legality (and contributions) of many legally residing migrants and managing more effectively the more recent inflows of irregular migrants. The burden of irregular immigrants on the country’s public health services, the size of the informal economy and undeclared work and the reasons for maintaining the regularity of immigrants were the main points raised by Members of the Parliament in the discussion that followed. You can watch the complete meeting of the committee here.

Participation in international networks

ELIAMEP (Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou and Ms Marina Nikolova) have become the national coordinators for Greece at the EU Integration Web Site since 2010. The EU integration web site development project is coordinated by the Migration Policy Group (MPG) in Brussels.

Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou has also been appointed the Greek SOPEMI Correspondent at the OECD, for the International Migration Outlook since 2010.

Irregular Migration

Just published!

Triandafyllidou, A. and Maroukis, T. (2011) Migrant Smuggling. Irregular Migration from Asia and Africa to Europe, London: Palgrave

This book surveys the phenomenon of migrant smuggling across the Mediterranean. It looks at the routes of irregular migration from sub-Saharan Africa to Spain and Italy. It meticulously analyses the phenomenon of migrant smuggling with a focus on the routes that lead from Africa and Asia via Turkey to Greece. The book questions to what extent migrant smuggling is a business or indeed a social process enmeshed in origin and transit countries’ social networks.

Anna Triandafyllidou has just published an ELIAMEP Thesis on Seasonal Migration in Europe.

ELIAMEP’s migration research team has developed a study  on the Treatment of Irregular Migrants at the EU External Borders,  coordinated by Thanos Maroukis with the participation of Michaela Maroufof, Kleopatra Youssef, Angeliki Dimitriadi, Despoina Syrri and Marina Nikolova. The project is funded by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and the ELIAMEP team has completed case studies on the sea borders of Greece with Turkey, on the Cyprus case, while there is ongoing fieldwork at the Bulgarian Turkish and Greek Turkish land borders. These studies will be published in late 2012

New books on Irregular Migration from the ELIAMEP team which are based on past projects include:

Triandafyllidou, A. (ed) (2013) Irregular Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe: Who Cares?, Aldershot: Ashgate, forthcoming in early 2013. With Contributions from Michaela Maroufof and Thanos Maroukis.

Integration and Multiculturalism

The ELIAMEP team has started in April 2011 a project on the integration of intra EU migrants into their places of destination. The MOVEACT project compares the processes of social and political integration of leisure-movers (e.g. Germans or Brits moving to southern Europe for life style reasons) vs. economic migrants (e.g. Romanians and Bulgarians migrating to find better life and employment prospects).

New edition!

Triandafyllidou, A. (2010) Muslims in 21st Century Europe. Structural and Cultural Perspectives  – now available in paperback 

New book!

Triandafyllidou, A. Modood, T. and Meer, N. (2011) (eds) European Multiculturalisms; Cultural, Religious and Ethnic Challenges. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 

European Multiculturalism(s) draws from research undertaken within the EMILIE research project which was completed in November 2009. EMILIE investigated the challenges that migration-related cultural and religious diversity raise in nine EU countries. For more visit the EMILIE website.