The Greek government's policy on migrants will be a drastic advancement of measures for their integration and social participation, aimed at achieving a socially cohesive and just Greece, prime minister George Papandreou said on Wednesday, addressing the 3rd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) which is being held in Athens. "Our goal is to combat inequality and fear in society," he stressed.

   The 3rd GFMD, taking place at the Megaron-Athens Concert Hall and attended by 250 representatives of international organisations, is also being attended by President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who addressed the Forum, and a number of government ministers.

   Papandreou said that it was a "happy coincidence" with "great symbolism" that this year's Forum is taking place in Greece, "a country that well knows what migration means and how it could work for everyone's benefit.

   "We need to open up new ways of thought and policy on regulating this phenomenon that will allow us to avert extreme problems that we frequently encounter, such as racism, human trafficking, barbarous exploitation of women and children," the prime minister urged.

   Noting that migration was not just a present-day phenomenon, given that it has existed throughout history "not as a regional phenomenon, but a crucial one for the development of our world, of civilisation, of the way we perceive our societies, but also for us ourselves", the Greek premier spoke of the relationship between migration and development.

   "Development and migration are communicating vessels and provide the ability for us to realise also the beneficial possibilities of a regulated migration, because development reduces migration to the countries of origin, but migration in turn also increases growth," Papandreou said.

   Papandreou added that migration has, in the countries of destination, contributed to filling empty work positions and the creation of additional jobs for the native population, to improvement of the demographic indexes, to boosting the social security systems, to reduction of the production costs, to containment of inflationary pressures, and to improvement of the competitiveness of the economies.

   "Ancient Greek civilisation would not have been a point of reference for the Mediterranean Basin had the Greeks not migrated to and settled in what are today's southern Italy, France, Egypt and the Middle East," Papandreou underlined.

   The premier further noted that in the last 20 years Greece has undergone a fundamental transformation, with the consolidation of democracy and economic growth having transformed Greece from a country of origin (of migrants) to a country of destination of migrants, "of people who came to our country in search of a better destiny".

   "It is all those who supported and support with their presence, the crucial sectors of our economy, in agriculture, in construction, in tourism, in shipping. The migrants, too, have left their own, indelible mark on our country in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, through their work in the construction of the infrastructures," the premier continued.

   Development, he stressed, "is not just an economic matter, but one of values, knowledge, democracy for both the countries of origin and destination, and also for the migrants themselves".

   Turning to his government's commitments, Papandreou described them as "a series of distinct but also mutually supplementary axes of action", which include the consolidation and ensurance of the legality of residency and gradual passage into a regime of long-term residency for the permanent migrants, intensive promotion of social integration so as to lift exclusion to access to fundamental social goods and services that are necessary for the development of each individual's personality and participation in the country's social life.

   Further, he stressed that his government has committed itself to boosting the participation of migrants in the country's civil life, through the ability to acquire Greek nationality "chiefly for the so-called second generation", the institution of dialogue with the migrant organisations and related NGOs, but also with the participation of the long-residing migrants in local government elections which, the premier noted, is also an EU policy.

   "Our aim is to confront illegal migration on the criterion of consolidating our integration policies as well as respect of the fundamental human rights, through more efficient guarding of the borders, fuller utilisation of the institutional abilities for return to the country of destination, and through revision of the policy on granting political asylum, which currently does not meet our obligations," Papandreou stressed.

   Another element is the new, active negotiation on the distribution of the burden of illegal migrants and asylum-seekers within the EU "since, in reality, all of Europe is in the same transitional period as Greece, whereas our country is one of the main destinations of migrants headed to the entire EU," he continued.

   Papandreou also stressed the need to re-determine relations with the countries of origin in order to create fair and mutually beneficial relations, and also the need to "take the control of the movement of people between our countries into our own hands".

   "Our wager is to create legitimate and safe routes for migration," he added.

   Turning to climate change, Papandreou stressed that it does not concern only the environment, but it also poses immense challenges with respect to the forced movement of populations due to its effects.

   Caption : Prime Minister George Papandreou addresses the 3rd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Athens on Wednesday 4 November 2009. ANA-MPA/ SYMELA PANTZARTZI