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.