Andrew West Greater Sydney
November 5, 2011
Many Greeks ... are seeking to escape the debt crisis and join one of the biggest expatriate communities in the world, based largely in Melbourne and Sydney. Photo: AP
AFTER decades of low immigration, the number of Greeks interested in heading to Australia has risen sharply, according to the federal government.
As the Greek debt crisis worsens and unemployment rises, some of the most skilled professionals are seeking to join one of the biggest expatriate communities in the world, based largely in Melbourne and Sydney.
A recent ''skills expo'' in Athens, hosted by the Australian embassy, attracted 773 young professionals interested in moving under the skilled migration program. For country with a population of 10 million, the figure is significant.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship said the most recent statistics were not yet available. ''But we are able to say that, anecdotally, there has been an increase in Greek inquiries about immigration to Australia, via our embassy in Athens and via the website,'' she said.
Over the past decade, immigration from Greece has been low. In 2001, there were 92 migrants; in 2006, there were 112 people; in 2009, after the global financial crisis hit, there were 132 people; and in the year ending June 2011, there were 134 migrants.
This is despite Australia being home to almost 400,000 people who claimed Greek ancestry in the 2006 census, which contains the most recent data. The biggest influx of Greeks came after World War II, when the government looked to Europe to help populate the country.
But since Greece joined the European Union in 1981, and became a signatory to the Schengen Agreement in 2000, allowing the free movement of labour across the union, many young Greeks - fluent in English and other European languages, and equipped with strong qualifications - have emigrated to France, Germany and Britain or the United States, says the Australian Hellenic Council.
The council's spokesman, Panayiotis Diamadis, told the Herald the ''tyranny of distance'' had limited the number of Greeks moving to Australia. ''That's the biggest obstacle,'' he said, especially if migrants leave elderly family members behind.
Dr Diamadis said, however, that in the past year about 2500 Greeks who have dual citizenship had returned to Australia, largely because of the economic crisis.
He said that while his organisation was willing to help resettle Greeks, it was not actively encouraging the large-scale immigration of young professionals at this time. ''We're very worried about the outflow from Greece of the best qualified people because they're the ones - the engineers, the accountants, the doctors - that the country will need to get themselves out of the mess,'' he said.
Greeks confront the tyranny of distance as professionals seek escape from debt crisis
