INTERVENTION OF THE GREEK OMBUDSMAN REGARDING PENSIONS OF THE UNINSURED GREEK ELDERLY (“OMOGENEIS”): in June 2013, the Greek Ombudsman, an Independent Greek Authority that defends the constitutional rights of individuals, made an Intervention and addressed a letter to the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance, seeking the amendment of the legal context regarding pensions of the uninsured Greek elderly (“omogeneis”). More specifically, some people of the Greek “omogeneia”, who were never insured with a Greek Insurance Institution, were nevertheless entitled to pensions from Greece, since they are of Greek origin. A large number of those people (the uninsured elderly of Greek origin), who receive a very small pension from their countries or who have not ever resided in Greece for 20 or more years, have stopped receiving their Greek pensions since the 1st of March, 2013, because of the provisions of Law 4093/2012. On one hand, according to EU’s legislation, 5 years of residence in a country should be considered enough time for a person to be able to enjoy some rights. On the other hand, the Greek Law requires a 20-year residence in Greece, in order for a person of the Greek “omogeneia” to have the right to receive a pension, which is a very cruel and strict provision. The Greek Ombudsman took into consideration several complaints made by Greeks living abroad, in third (non-EU) countries, the so-called Greek “Omogeneia”, concerning their pensions. The aforementioned Authority noted that the constitutional rights of the uninsured elderly are violated and that those people are being deprived of their decent living, since sometimes they can’t even afford to buy their own food. The Greek Ombudsman stressed out the fact that the provisions of said law are against EU legislation and that they should be amended.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:47:08 +0000
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