Issue No.
13343
ACCUSING ruling New Democracy of failing to forge a comprehensive migration policy, main opposition Pasok leader Yiorgos Papandreou (photo) responded to the government’s new measures to combat illegal immigration with his own eight-point plan consisting of the following:
1. Zero-tolerance for illegal immigration
2. Additional European Union funding and support for guarding the country’s borders
3. Implementation of international and bilateral repatriation agreements, such as the one signed with neighbouring Turkey
4. An EU-wide burden-sharing policy so that asylum seekers and refugees may be resettled in other EU member states
5. Drastic overhaul of the country’s refugee policy so as to streamline the asylum application
6. Integration of immigrants into society, granting citizenship to the children of immigrants and to all those who fulfil all the requirements and cracking down on black-market labour
7. Overseas recruitment of workers to fill seasonal job vacancies
8. Reorganisation of cities and neighbourhoods, especially those that are neglected and turning into ghettos
ATHENS NEWS 08/03/2010, page: 13
