Within the context of Pakistani migration, the case of Greece as a critical pathway for migratory flows to Europe during the last few years acquires a special interest. For a large group of Pakistani migrants Greece has become an important destination country: immigrants started arriving in the country in the 1970s so as to work in the shipping industry (Dermetzopoulos et al., 2009; Leghari, 2009), which, according to Tonchev, was due to bilateral and trade agreements signed for their temporary employment (2007); their influx has gradually and steadily increased in the subsequent years taking irregular forms, both in terms of entry and residence status. A question that emerges with urgency both in the scholarly literature and in public life nowadays, then, is why and how people decide to migrate embarking upon a journey and a project that is irregular? To what extent migration control policies affect their decisions?
Author: Michaela Maroufof
IRMA Case Study: ‘It is not just the money. It is also how the people think over there’ Retracing the journey of Pakistani migrants to Greece