CITIZENSHIP, IDENTITY AND LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN A CLOBALIZED WORLD
INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION
127th ASSEMPLY
QUEBEC CITY, 21-26 OCTOBER 2012
Prof. Yannis Maniatis, MP Greece
Dear colleagues,
It is a special pleasure and honour for me and my colleagues from Greece to participate in the current IPU Assembly. We have come here to share our experiences on a reality which at times seems but a wish, at times scares us, at times becomes hard to accept and other times it is but a necessary condition for the development of every country and its people on a knowledge, social, cultural, political and state level.
My country, once the country of origin of many immigrants, has now become a host country of immigrants.
Greece, both within the EU and in the framework of International Organizations has signed and ratified conventions which strengthen and foster the respect and protection of human rights, promote and defend intercultural dialogue, freedom of thought and expression, religious freedom, gender equality and demonstrate awareness towards vulnerable groups.
Signing and ratifying is but a first step of responsibility taken by governments and parliaments. The second and equally important step is the implementation of the conventions.
Allow me to refer briefly to some elements of Greek reality which demonstrate this awareness and provide a springboard for further development.
The Ministry of the Interior in the framework of its policy “Open, Democratic and Fair society” is aiming to implement a modern citizenship policy, fully streamlined with the stringent European framework, to dismantle “ghettos”, to establish the principle that “Greek is he/she who is party to Greek Education”, to expedite the procedures for the attribution of citizenship to persons of Greek nationality, to promote up-to-date integration policies for legal immigrants and aggressive policies for the refoulement of illegal immigrants.
During the last municipal elections (2010) a relevant circular by the Ministry of the Interior allowed, inter alia, the right of vote to Greeks of the diaspora and to third country foreigners, who have at least 5 or 10 years of permanent residence in Greece respectively.
The last three years, the action plan for the management of irregular migration flows and the enactment of relevant laws, in cooperation with EU and the Council of Europe, gives the legal ability to Greek State to manage the issue of illegal entry into the country with respect for human rights and rule of law. For some time now, Greece has been implementing the “Xenios Zeus” programme and operating accomodation centres for illegal immigrants, since the conditions under which illegal immigrants.
Efforts are being made to keep people well-informed, especially in order to demonstrate that the overall endeavour aims to restore the dignity of immigrants, regardless of colour, nationality or religion.
In the framework of the Operational Programme “Education and Lifelong Learning”, a programme is being implemented, for primary and secondary education schools, where over 10% of the students are immigrants or repatriates.
I mention two actions:
· The first one is the action for fostering a climate of intercultural communication at school level
Inter alia, the following is being pursued:
1. To raise awareness and train the directors of school units on issues of administration of a multicultural school.
2. To make good use of the school website and create a forum for students to express themselves and make use of the electronic platform of the Ministry for Multicultural Education Programmes.
3. To create a theatre group in cooperation with the Local Administration)
4. The lesson “I am taught in my language”. One of the foreign language students organizes with the help of the teacher of the class and the foreign language teacher, a lesson in his/her mother tongue.
· The second group of actions is comprehensive interventions around the country, in order to ensure that all Roma children receive equal opportunities for a successful education, social and financial progress.
In order to have an open, democratic and just society we must negotiate issues concerning vulnerable social groups and promote legislative regulations in this direction. In our country, a separate pillar is the policy of the Secretariat for Equality, which promotes horizontal actions for the employment and entrepreneurship of women, for the family and private life of women, their participation in the decision-making centres and the elimination of any form of violence against them.
I cannot claim, although I would have liked to, that in Greece there is only the side that I briefly outlined. There is also the other side, of unseemly behaviours, which myself and my colleagues are watching closely and which we have the will and determination to examine and reverse. It is our goal to drive away fear and ignorance, through knowledge and understanding, in order to achieve acceptance, tolerance and mutual respect.
Thank you very much for your attention.