On the website of Greece’s Ministry of Migration and Asylum, an electronic platform will be available as of June 10, 2024, for employers to submit applications to hire Egyptian seasonal workers in the agricultural industry.

Greece and Egypt recently came to an agreement in May of this year with the goal of addressing workforce shortages in several industries.

By 2024, the agreement expects to hire 5,000 seasonal workers in the agriculture industry overall.

2,400 Seasonal Skilled Workers from Egypt Have Already Been Drafted

According to Greek media, Egypt’s Ministry of Labor has collaborated with Migration and Asylum Minister Dimitris Kairidis to prepare the first list of 2,400 eligible Egyptian seasonal workers.

Furthermore, the bilateral agreement modifies the permanent transfer process in two ways:

One-stop services reserve the 5,000 worker positions, which are available for the entire Greek area from a common “reservoir” while requests are being processed.

Employers may transfer people from the pool of candidates for employment that the Egyptian side forms and proposes based on standards established by the Greek authorities (Ministry of Rural Development and Food).

The Greek government announced plans to draft new legislation in 2023 to modernize the residency permit application procedure. The goal of these adjustments is to offer almost 30,000 undocumented immigrants legal status. In order to be eligible, immigrants must demonstrate that they have lived and worked in the Hellenic Republic for three years.

Egypt was given €7.4 billion by the EU to stop the flow of migrants from North Africa into the EU.

The European Union and Egypt formed a “strategic partnership” in March of this year, which included a €7.4 billion agreement to stop the influx of migrants from North Africa into Europe. Due to economic hardships and a lack of foreign investment, Egypt’s 106 million people are increasingly looking for better possibilities abroad.

Human rights organizations have denounced Western backing for President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt. El-Sisi took office ten years ago after spearheading the removal of Egypt’s first democratically elected leader.