Six months in Greece, six months in Australia. The timeless dream that unites many migrants in the Land of Antipodes.
For Sydney resident Thomas Kokkoris, however, even if financial or other factors allowed it, until recently the way to the dream would have been blocked by something else: he has not served in the Greek army.
Now a permanent resident of Australia for about a decade, he qualifies for a deferral application that would allow him to stay in Greece for up to 6 months each year.
But until now the 30 days per year that he was entitled to spend there as an unsubmissive foreigner were more than enough, as he says, speaking to «New World».
Undeclared foreigner
- What is the procedure?; Declaration to the consulate/presbytery of the country of residence (and application for a new passport) by the person concerned - transmission of the request by the consular authority to the competent military service - issue of a certificate of non-submission.
- Can I travel to Greece?; Yes, but for a limited period not exceeding 30 days a year or 40 during an election. In exceptional and exclusive cases (as defined in Article 54 of the ν. 3421/2005, (for example, war in the country of residence), the period may be renewed up to a total of three months.
- What are the consequences of insubordination?; Although foreign conscientious objectors receive a slightly milder legal treatment than domestic ones, in their case too, beyond the limit of time spent in Greece, they will be prosecuted for the offence of desertion under the Military Criminal Code and an administrative fine of €6,000 will be imposed.
«One month a year is good. I can't afford to stay longer.
«I hope we can make it [the Greece-Australia six-month trip] with the family at 45-50, the girls will be grown up by then,» he says of the two daughters he and his wife Mary have.
«If I were alone, I think I'd try to make it just barely and like swallows, go from summer to summer. But I make decisions based on how well the family is doing.».
‘What's best for the family’ was also on his mind when he decided at the age of 28 to emigrate to Australia (essentially repatriate since he was born there).
Greece - Australia via... Italy and the unexpected help from a uniformed man
The time had also come for Thomas to be called up for the army with the first deferment, the student deferment he had taken at 18 and extended, having come to an end.
«We were thinking about Australia at the time and my family and my best man happened to be there already and it put it in my mind more.
«I asked the lawyer ’can I go» and he said 'with the Australian passport won't you go? You have no problem, as an Australian you will fly.".
But the reality was different at the airport, with Thomas being stopped at passport control due to «a problem with the recruitment system».
«I enter the office for the passport control that I was sent to and I see that the assistant has already informed someone with stripes. He was wagging his finger and saying ᾽his ass can't fly man, he wants to fly᾽. And I said to him, ’Sit down, how can you talk so recklessly, we have jobs waiting for us, I'm a family man with children. My boy, he says, »but the computer says you don't fly, we can't let you go".
Frustrated, Thomas informed the family and went out of the airport for a cigarette while waiting for the bags he had already checked in to be returned. The flight to Australia would only be saved if a mechanical God intervened.
Help finally came, surprisingly, from the very uniformed officer who had informed him of the ban on leaving the country.
«The policeman had come out to smoke, he too seemed charged. I pointed my finger at him ostentatiously at my guys and said ‘there he is the one who won't let me fly and wants to ruin my life᾽. He approached me and was very compassionate. My boy, what can I do?» he said, "That's my job, anyone who makes a signal in the system I don't let him go, it's my fault?" I apologized to him if I spoke badly to him and then I remembered that six months ago I had travelled to Holland without any problems and so I asked him.
The difference was the travel document, since, as he informed him, the recruitment mark is only on passports, not when travelling within the European Union with a police identity card.
«I asked him then if I was travelling to Italy with my identity card and from there to Australia, if they would let me go. He said to me, »I don't swear anything, but what I can tell you is that a [recruitment] badge in Italy won't hit you that you haven't been a soldier, because it's only in the Greek system. It's a sure thing that I'm telling you to go᾽.".
Thomas listened to him and did not lose.
He finally flew to Australia via Italy, although the mishaps didn't stop at that airport either.
«Where I was supposed to fly at three-thirty to Dubai, I ended up flying at five-thirty to Italy with the ID, and the next day from there via Qatar. In Qatar meanwhile, they made an issue of me at first since I was flying with a passport and didn't have a stamp from Greece on it and didn't speak Italian. I told them about the identity card, they discussed it a bit between them, finally they let me go».
Every setback on this journey is now remembered as a story worth telling.
«I won't forget when I was told in Italy by the airline - because it was different from the one I had booked from Athens - that I was entitled to less kilos in my suitcase and had to pay 300 euros for the extra. I told them no way. I was leaving for Australia with all of 800 euros’. I started to break the wheels off the suitcase, the handle to take out what I could of things to reduce the weight, I didn't have anything I didn't need. I still had to pay, but at least I had to pay less,» she recalls with a laugh.
Since arriving in Australia, Thomas has not looked back despite the difficulties. He tried his luck in Melbourne and a few months later he and his family were reunited and settled in Sydney.
For years he has been running his own business and the family was completed with the couple's second daughter who was born in Australia.
«I don't regret not going,» he answers the question about the army.
And the process for being labeled a disobedient foreigner was simple, as he describes.
«I made contact by email initially at the consulate, made an appointment and must have paid a small fee if I remember correctly. They took care of everything, they gave me the paper and just told me that it takes a few days to renew in the system.[...] When I went to Greece to the control I was told ‘you have a problem with the army you can only stay 30 days’. ‘I know’ I said to them, don't be nervous.
«And at the consulate I was told to go back when I completed 7 years to get a deferment as a permanent resident abroad.».
Deferment of permanent resident abroad
- What is the procedure?; Submission of an application by the person concerned to his/her last temporary residence abroad (if he/she had more than one). For a conscript to be classified as a permanent resident abroad, one of the two conditions set out in Article 24 of the ν. 3421/2005,
«α. Have had their principal and permanent residence abroad for at least eleven consecutive years in one or more countries.
β. They have a livelihood and have resided abroad for at least seven consecutive years in one or more countries.».
- Can I travel to Greece?; Yes, but for a limited period not exceeding six months in any calendar year. Exceeding six months will result in loss of permanent resident status.
- Do I face consequences if I have previously had foreign disobedience status?; The acquisition of permanent resident status abroad eliminates the criminal offence of desertion and its criminal consequences.
In the case of deferment with permanent resident status, the permitted stay in Greece is limited to six months per year. But the conscription obligation is valid until the age of 45.
We ask Thomas if he is considering a permanent return to Greece with his family for then.
«Life is much easier in Australia with a family. Children with little or a lot of effort can achieve their dreams, whereas in Greece it's like ‘let's get by and survive today’. They don't let you dream, they don't let you develop your life as you have imagined it. I don't know if anything has changed in the last few years that I've lost touch and I'm speaking from my experiences in Athens, maybe province is different.
«That's why I don't think [about repatriation] I can tell you as unlikely, but you never know how things will turn out. Life is exciting.’.
*The information provided on foreign desertion and deferred enlistment of permanent foreign residents is based on the relevant legislation but is not exhaustive. For further information please visit the direct source on the website stratologia.gr. For clarification of your personal situation and any administrative or criminal penalties for insubordination, contact a lawyer.
