A new report published by Amnesty International on Tuesday, slams Greece for its treatment of migrants and asylum seekers.
Greece must stop treating migrants as criminals
27 July 2010
The Greek authorities should immediately review their policy of locking up irregular migrants and asylum-seekers, including many unaccompanied children, Amnesty International said in a new report on Tuesday.
Greece:
Irregular migrants and asylum-seekers routinely detained in substandard conditions, documents their treatment, many of whom are held in poor conditions in borderguard stations and immigration detention centres with no or limited access to legal, social and medical aid.“Asylum-seekers and irregular migrants are not criminals. Yet, the Greek authorities treat them as such disregarding their rights under international law,” said Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director for Amnesty International.
“Currently, migrants are detained as a matter of course, without regard whether such measure is necessary. Detention of asylum-seekers and migrants on the grounds of their irregular status should always be a measure of last resort.”
Greek law makes irregular entry into and exit out of the country a criminal offence. As of June 2009, the period of detention for the purposes of deportation has increased from three to six months.
Tens of thousands of migrants arrive in Greece each year. The vast majority of them reach the country through the Greek-Turkish land and sea borders. They are mostly Afghan, Somali, Palestinian, Iraqi, Eritrean, Pakistani and Burmese.
“After an often hazardous journey, migrants end up in detention centres without access to a lawyer, interpreters or social workers. As a result, their circumstances are not assessed correctly and many in need of international protection may be sent back to the places they have fled, while others may be deprived of appropriate care and support,” Nicola Duckworth said.
Irregular migrants and asylum-seekers are not informed about the length of their detention or about their future. They can be kept for long periods of time in overcrowded facilities with unaccompanied minors being detained among the adults. Those detained have limited access to medical assistance and hygiene products.
Few asylum-seekers and irregular migrants are recognized as refugees by the Greek authorities. From the over 30,000 asylum applications examined in 2009, only 36 were granted refugee protection status while 128 were granted subsidiary protection status.
In the vast majority of detention facilities visited by Amnesty International delegates, conditions ranged from inadequate to very poor. Those detained told Amnesty International of instances of ill-treatment by coastguards and police.
Length and poor conditions of detention provoked irregular migrants and asylum-seekers to stage protests in Venna, north-east Greece in February 2010. Likewise, in April, irregular migrants went on hunger strike on the island of Samos to protest their length of detention.
“Detention cannot be used as a tool to control migration. The onus is on the authorities to demonstrate in each individual case that such detention is necessary and proportionate to the objective to be achieved and that alternatives will not be effective,” Nicola Duckworth said.
Amnesty International said it believes that the Greek authorities should explore alternatives, such as the establishment of screening centres staffed with qualified personnel.
The authorities need to ensure that irregular migrants and asylum-seekers arriving at those centres have access to free legal assistance and interpreters in languages they understand, and medical assistance.
Tags: amnesty international, Asylum, detention, Greece, Immigration, Migrants
Vandals painted red swastikas on the walls of the Jewish Museum of Greece in Athens.
The July 22 attack marked the first time that the museum has been the target of anti-Semitic expression, according to an Athens community news release.
Greece has been beset by a chain of anti-Semitic events this year, including twin arson attacks on the Synagogue of Hania, vandalism against Jewish cemeteries in Ioannina and Thessaloniki, and an attack against the Holocaust memorial in Rhodes.
Security cameras recorded the eight perpetrators during the museum attack.
Tags: Anti-Semitism, athens, Greece, jewish, jews
Via The Independent
A Greek investigative journalist was gunned down outside his home yesterday in an attack blamed on a far-left terrorist group.
Sokratis Giolias, a 37-year-old radio journalist and popular blogger and father of one, was shot more than 15 times by terrorists carrrying 9mm pistols. He was killed at around 5.20am in the middle-class Athens suburb of Ilioupoli after three uniformed attackers in bullet-proof vests, apparently posing as security personnel, rang his doorbell. They drew him out of his apartment building by claiming that someone had stolen his car. His pregnant wife was upstairs.
Later police discovered a car, apparently the getaway vehicle, abandoned and burned to a shell near to the scene of the crime. Officers initially dismissed the idea that terrorists were responsible. But later they said that ballistics tests on bullet casing at the scene had shown that the same guns had been used in previous operations by the Sect of Revolutionaries, a far-left group which was implicated last year in the murder of an anti-terror police officer and an attack on a television station.
Read the full story at The Independent
Tags: assassination, Blogging, Greece, journalism, journalist, murder, Sokratis Giolias, terrorist
Continuing this month’s focus on Human Trafficking, I would like to draw your attention to Love146 who are working towards the abolition of child sex slavery and exploitation. Please read the story of why they are called Love146. It’s heart-breaking.
“We found ourselves standing shoulder to shoulder with predators in a small room, looking at little girls through a pane of glass. All of the girls wore red dresses with a number pinned to their dress for identification. They sat, blankly watching cartoons on TV. They were vacant, shells of what a child should be. There was no light in their eyes, no life left. Their light had been taken from them. These children…raped each night… seven, ten, fifteen times every night. They were so young. Thirteen, eleven… it was hard to tell. Sorrow covered their faces with nothingness. Except one girl. One girl who wouldn’t watch the cartoons. Her number was 146. She was looking beyond the glass. She was staring out at us, with a piercing gaze. There was still fight left in her eyes. There was still life left in this girl…
“…All of these emotions begin to wreck you. Break you. It is agony. It is aching. It is grief. It is sorrow. The reaction is intuitive, instinctive. It is visceral. It releases a wailing cry inside of you. It elicits gut-level indignation. It is unbearable. I remember wanting to break through the glass. To take her away from that place. To scoop up as many of them as I could into my arms. To take all of them away. I wanted to break through the glass to tell her to keep fighting. To not give up. To tell her that we were coming for her…”
“Because we went in as part of an ongoing, undercover investigation on this particular brothel, we were unable to immediately respond. Evidence had to be collected in order to bring about a raid, and eventually justice on those running the brothel. It is an immensely difficult problem when an immediate response cannot address an emergency. Some time later, there was a raid on this brothel and children were rescued. But the girl who wore #146 was no longer there. We do not know what happened to her, but we will never forget her. She changed the course of all of our lives.” -Rob Morris, President and Co-founder
The organisation has a blog and you can follow them on Twitter.
Tags: children, exploitation, human trafficking, rape, slavery
NEW Democracy leader Antonis Samaras (L) announced his party’s intention to completely overhaul ruling Pasok’s latest immigration law as soon as his party comes to power. Pasok’s law in March of this year opened a path to the automatic acquisition of citizenship for a child born in Greece whose parents have been legally and permanently residing in Greece for at least five years. Samaras has harshly criticised the law. He says he wants to make the rules stricter.
“The children of illegal immigrants who are born here should be granted the right to citizenship when they come of age, but they must first choose between the Greek and the citizenship of their parents’ homeland,” Samaras told an Athens conference on international immigration that was organised by his party on July 5.
Tags: birth certificate, citizenship, education, Greece, Immigration
This past month has been one filled with fresh initiative, new precedent, and victory! Across the last few weeks we have launched the new A21 website, held school presentations in three countries worldwide, began the new A21 internship program in Greece, and saw our first court case VICTORY! We have also been able to spread awareness about human trafficking at a whole new level, including the opportunity to meet with significant leaders at the US Department of State during the release of the 2010 Trafficking in Persons report.
Across this last month it has also been very exciting to witness the girls who have come through the A21 Crisis Shelter truly find hope and move beyond the pain of their past circumstances. Through the support and generosity of our partners, we have been able to provide the opportunity for girls to study at university and obtain the necessary education and skills needed for them to truly fulfill their dreams. We are also proud of three of our recent graduates as they have just begun new jobs (and with the state of the current Greek economy, this is a true miracle)!
One of our graduates has had a particularly exciting month. Felicia* is a girl who came to our shelter last year after we found her in slavery. We worked to establish relationship, trust, and hope, and through her bravery, we were able to help set up a raid with the local police – and set her free.
Showing immense courage from the start, Felicia made the decision to testify against her traffickers at the end of June, and has stood her ground in the midst of many obstacles, including health related problems and many threats from her traffickers.When the verdict was read the trafficker was found GUILTY by unanimous vote, given a steep fine, and sent to JAIL! This case will now be referred to in future trials as a significant precedent, and holds record of A21’s key involvement throughout the case! This case was the first of many victories to come for the girls that we are helping! The A21 Campaign is committed to raising awareness, taking legal action where appropriate, and offering rehabilitation services to rescued victims of human trafficking.
Thank you for your generosity and support. As we partner together to combat the injustice of human trafficking, we are taking significant ground!
* For the protection of victims of human trafficking in the care of THE A21 CAMPAIGN, all names and details pertaining to specific cases are always changed.
Last month, I had decided to spend a month spotlighting Human Trafficking. This was prompted by the launch of the Greek version of MTV EXIT. Unfortunately, my blog was then hacked and I couldn’t actually pursue that idea.
Now is the time to kick-start the campaign.
The above article is from the A21 Campaign:
Human Trafficking is an organized criminal industry that affects every nation. Whilst the statistics can seem overwhelming, it is important to remember that every number represents the life of a victim. The A21 Campaign has recognized a significant need in the region of Eastern Europe, and is committed to combating this injustice through rescuing one life at a time.
There are 21 ways that you can get involved with the campaign plus you can join them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.
Tags: campaign, exploitation, human trafficking, injustice, mtv, Trafficking
A third world child pursues the dream of freedom but becomes a victim of exploitation
This brilliant animation was made by Effie Pappa, a student of the graphic design department of the Technological Educational Institute of Athens (TEI), with music and sound effects by Marietta Fafouti.
Tags: art, children, exploitation, human trafficking, third world, Trafficking
This blog has gone through many changes since it began in June 2005. Sometimes, I find it hard to believe that I have survived through all its ups and downs. I am, as always, so grateful to all the fantastic people who have supported me along the way. Without that kind of caring from people, I wouldn’t still be writing here. I really mean that.
I had never meant this blog to simply be a place to come and read articles that can be found elsewhere online. A sort of news gathering blog. I wanted (and still want) it to be a place for discussion, debate or just a place where people could “gather” and talk about the issues they care about. A kind of small online community. To a certain extent, I have succeeded in that goal but recently I have felt that I have let that slip somewhat. I cannot blame that simply on the fact that my blog has been broken for quite a while. Before I was hacked, I was just posting articles and not really engaging in discussions. There are many reasons for that which I won’t bore you with but one very important problem stands out. I had become quite bored with it.
It had got to the point where everything I wrote, whether a personal musing or simply posting an article or link, was the subject of bitter opposition from the same few people. Many people who used to be engaged in discussions here became bored with it too. There has been no drop in the number of visitors. In fact, my stats have steadily risen over the years and even this recent invasion by hackers has not changed that. The change has been that there has been less variety in the comments. It had become the same few over and over and over again.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that those few should not comment or that I do not appreciate their input (some more than others, of course). What I would like is to begin rebuilding that sense of community that I had here a while back. Where a variety of opinions were being expressed. I am not entirely sure how to go about that but I feel myself regaining that enthusiasm I had for blogging here. Feeling more optimistic about the future of THIS IS NOT MY COUNTRY.
So, onwards to the next five years. Who knows what they will bring…
Tags: blog, Blogging, community, human rights, personal
I apologise again for the lack of posting here. I was hacked a few weeks ago and this person has been very persistent and pretty much corrupted all my files. This has meant that I dare not post new things for fear of people being infected by the virus they have spread. I haven’t had an rss feed for ages either. My other problem was that I couldn’t see what other people were experiencing so had to rely on people letting me know.
My blog guru has cleaned up everything now and (hopefully) the problem will not continue. Please let me know if you are still experiencing any difficulties.
This has been such a headache and I have lost a lot of momentum and probably a lot of readers, which is a shame. I will try and restore my enthusiasm and return to frequent posting very soon.
Thank you to everyone who wrote to me about the problems they were having on this site. It’s always good to know that people are looking out for you.
MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) have launched the Greek version of their site.
I am going to do a series of posts on Human Trafficking and the campaign in English but much of the information is now available in Greek at the link above.
What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is the trade of human beings and their use by criminals to make money. That could mean forcing or tricking people into prostitution, begging, or manual labour.
Victims do not agree to be trafficked – they are tricked – lured by false promises – or forced.
The trafficker takes away the basic human rights of the victim: the freedom to move, to choose, to control her body and mind, and to control her future.
Do not confuse trafficking with smuggling. A smuggler will facilitate illegal entry into a country for a fee, but on arrival at their destination, the smuggled person is free; the trafficking victim is enslaved.
Human trafficking is a global phenomenon that is driven by demand and fuelled by poverty and unemployment. It continues to exact a significant toll in the multitude of countries around the world. A victim is often subjected to the use of force, fraud, or coercion for labor exploitation, sexual exploitation, or domestic servitude.
The United Nation’s International Labor Organization estimates that worldwide about 2.5 million people are victims of trafficking and over half of these people are in Asia and the Pacific. Other estimates range from 4 million to 27 million.
According to the US Government, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders. Over 80 percent of these transnational victims are women and up to 50 percent are children. These numbers do not include millions of female and male victims who are trafficked within their own countries into forced or bonded labor.
Human trafficking is so common now that it is the third most profitable criminal activity in the world after illegal drugs and arms trafficking. Criminals earn an estimated US$10 billion every year through buying and selling human beings.
The impacts of human trafficking are devastating. Victims may suffer physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against self and family, and even death. But the devastation also extends beyond individual victims; human trafficking undermines the health, safety, and security of all nations it touches.
The growing social and economic inequality within and between countries has led to an environment in which many people have few choices and resources. Young people are especially susceptible to being lured, mislead or forced into being trafficked as they have more ambition to move and seek a better life.
In Greece, according to NGO estimates, there are 13,000-14,000 trafficking victims in the country at any given time. Major countries of origin for trafficking victims include Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Albania, Moldova, Romania, and Belarus.
There is a Greek Facebook page you can join at Stop Human Trafficking in Greece
Tags: exploitation, human trafficking, Trafficking
Via the Athens News
PART dreamer, part practical community builder, Yiorgos Detsis is the mastermind behind GreenRoofs.gr, a specialised eco-portal spreading the word of what could well be the eco-friendliest revolution this country has ever seen.
Apart from cataloguing a good number of local green-roof professionals, it offers interested parties all manner of useful information from owner testimonies to discussion forums that will bring you one step closer to making your life a better place.
“The main reason I started this website was to collect and catalogue the little available information that was floating around,” says Detsis, a web designer by profession. Although his vocation of choice made the undertaking a whole lot easier, it didn’t bring him any closer to supplementing his income.
Apparently, that was never the point. “I started green roofs about 2½ years ago, right after the devastating summer fires in the Peloponnese. It was a product of a very agonising time that had suddenly turned everyone into an expert. My idea was to do something other than speechifying,” he says of his pet project. “It has nothing to do with turning a profit – it’s just an effort to unite people in the green-roof industry in this one portal where they can get to know each other and get their message across.”
Read the full article at the Athens News. You can also join Green Roofs in Greece on Facebook.
Also in the Athens News this week
MOVING to Greece twenty years ago, Clements planned to continue his career in investments. Instead, his love of plants eventually led him to learn everything there was to know about greening
your roof from scratch. With a team of civil engineers, architects and environmentalists, he gave an eco-facelift to some of the most high-profile roofs in town – including the Greek treasury – and is one of the few local experts who can provide some historical background on this fast-growing trend.“I started out as an investment consultant in Britain twenty years ago,” says Clements of his distant past in the financial field. “I came to Greece on holiday one summer and I loved it, so I went back to London and told my employers I was going to emigrate. ‘What are you going to do?’ they asked. ‘Oh, I’m sure I’ll find something,’ I said, brimming with the unfounded confidence of a newcomer.”
And indeed he did; only it wasn’t exactly what he thought it would be.
Read the full article at the Athens News
Tags: eco-friendly, ecology, Environment, green roof, living
Greece: Government planned reforms should ensure full respect for the right to conscientious objection
In the light of the World Day of Conscientious Objection on 15 May, Amnesty International urges the Greek authorities to ensure that the Government’s plans to reform legislation on the right to conscientious objection to military service fully respect international standards.
Thirteen years after the adoption of the first law providing for the option to perform alternative civilian service, Greece has persistently violated the rights of conscientious objectors, ignoring European and international standards.
Apart from facing criminal prosecution and repeated convictions for their beliefs, conscientious objectors in Greece face a series of other obstacles. Thus, the status of conscientious objector can only be claimed before enlisting in the armed forces and can be revoked on grounds such as carrying out trade union activities or participating in strikes during the period of alternative service.Also, the legislative provisions on alternative civilian service can be suspended following a decision of the Minister of National Defence in time of war. In addition, the administration of alternative service is not under the jurisdiction of a civilian authority; currently it is under the Ministry of National Defence. The Minister of National Defence decides on the applications, following an opinion by a special five-member committee with two military members.
There are also several problems regarding the procedure for applying for conscientious objector status, due to impediments such as strict deadlines, difficulties in acquiring the required documents, as well as questionable decisions by the special five-member committee mainly on applications by non-religious applicants. Furthermore, the vast majority of the conscripts are still not aware of the option of performing alternative civilian service instead of military service.
Amnesty International notes that the recent decision by the Minister of National Defence regarding the reduction of alternative civilian service from 17 to 15 months constitutes a positive step. However, Amnesty International considers that under the planned reform the alternative civilian service will remain of a punitive nature and duration for the majority of conscripts since a large percentage (currently around 80 per cent) serves in the land armed forces where the period of military service is nine months.
Amnesty International urges the Greek authorities to proceed with the immediate amendment of pertinent national legislation, in order to ensure that:
Alternative service does not consist of a discriminatory and punitive duration for all conscripts in the armed forces, including those in the land armed forces.
The administration of the alternative service, including the examination of the applications and any possible ensuing court process, falls entirely under civilian authority.
Conscientious objectors have the right to claim the status of conscientious objector any time, before, during or after their enlistment in the armed forces.
The right to conscientious objection applies at all times, both during peace time and in time of war.
The status of conscientious objector, and therefore the right to an alternative civilian service, is never revoked, whether for carrying out trade union activities, for participating in a strike or for disciplinary breaches. Currently the status can be revoked for such reasons.Amnesty International also calls on the Greek authorities:
To put an end to the prosecutions of conscientious objectors and allow them to recover their full civil and political rights.
To ensure that, both in law and in practice, conscientious objectors are not discriminated against in relation to the terms and conditions of service, or to any economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights.
To eliminate the problems in the application procedure for alternative service.
To guarantee the availability of adequate and timely information about the right to conscientious objection to military service, and the means of acquiring conscientious objector status, to all persons affected by military service.Finally, Amnesty International wishes to draw the attention of the Greek authorities to the recent Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)4 of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to member states on the human rights of members of the armed forces (24 February 2010). The Recommendationstipulates amongst others that conscripts should have the right to be granted conscientious objector status and an alternative service of a civilian nature should be proposed to them. The Recommendation also stipulates that professional members of the armed forces should be able to leave the armed forces for reasons of conscience and members of the armed forces having legally left the armed forces for reasons of conscience should not be subject to discrimination or to any criminal prosecution.
Background:In 2010 conscientious objectors continued to be convicted. On 18 February, the Military Appeal Court of Athens upheld the conviction of Giorgos Monastiriotis for desertion by the Naval Court of Pireus and sentenced him to five months’ imprisonment which was suspended. On February 2008, the Naval Court of Pireurs had sentenced him to 10 months’ imprisonment which was suspended on a third charge for desertion on the ground that he did not return to his unit following his second release from prison. Giorgos Monastiriotis, a former professional soldier, had refused to follow his unit when it was sent to the Persian Gulf in 2003 citing conscientious reasons and has been repeatedly convicted for his beliefs.
On 19 February, Evangelos Mihalopoulos, who refused to perform the alternative service in 2007 on grounds of conscience, was given an eight-month suspended sentence for insubordination by the Military Court of Athens.
The right to conscientious objection to military service is a legitimate exercise of the fundamental rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, enshrined in the Greek Constitution (Articles 13 and 14) as well as in international human rights treaties to which Greece is a State Party, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 18), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 18) and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Article 9).
Article 14 (7) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that “no one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country”.
Public Document
For more information please call Amnesty International’s press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org
International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK
www.amnesty.orgFor relevant information see:
Greece: ‘Cease fire’ for the conscientious objectors, AI Index: EUR 25/003/2005, 17 January 2005.
Greece: Historic decision by military court gives the right to former conscript to apply for alternative civilian service, AI Index: EUR 25/004/2005, 31 March 2005.
Greece: Conscientious Objectors – persecution is not the solution, AI Index: EUR 25/002/2006 (Public), 29 March 2006.
Greece: High time to comply full with European standards on conscientious objection, AI Index: 25/003/2006, Report, 30 April 2006.
Greece: Lazaros Petromelidis repeatedly convicted for his beliefs,AI Index: EUR 25/003/2008 (Public), 20 June 2008.
Tags: amnesty, Conscientious Objection, Greece, military, naval
THE GOVERNMENT announced the immediate closure of the Hellenic Migration Policy Institute (IMEPO) – the country’s only government-sponsored think tank on immigration. The reasoning behind the decision, according to an interior ministry press release issued on May 13, is that the institute was spending too much money. IMEPO was created in 2002. By law, it was to be funded entirely from the money collected by the state from fees charged to immigrants to renew their residence permit. According to the ministry, however, the institute received a 5 million euro bonus between 2008 and 2009. The bulk of this money, according to the ministry, was spent on travel and accommodation expenses for staff to attend immigration conferences around the world. More than 600,000 euros was spent annually on 17 salaries. The institute also paid a reportedly exorbitant, yet undisclosed, amount in rent for its upscale Kolonaki office building.
Tags: conference, Greece, Immigration, Legal Issues, residency
Vandals desecrated a Jewish cemetery in the Thessaloniki on the night of May 13 and three youths were arrested for the attack, authorities said on May 14. The assailants smeared graffiti in the cemetery, police said. The Central Jewish Council of Greece said the perpetrators were neo-Nazis who spraypainted anti-Semitic slogans and swastikas on the cemetery walls and destroyed graves. “The government strongly condemns this act of vandalism and police launched an immediate investigation,” government spokesman Yiorgos Petalotis said. In a separate incident, the Jewish Holocaust monument in Rhodes was also vandalised. The vandals destroyed the Star of David and cracked one side of the granite monument. Local police are seeking the perpetrators.
Tags: Anti-Semitism, cemetary, holocaust, jewish, jews
IMMIGRANT issues in Greece soon will be moving to a new venue – the campaign trail.
For the first time, immigrants in Greece will be able to vote in municipal elections. Up to now, the ballot box was open only to Greek citizens and other European Union nationals residing permanently in Greece.Much has changed since the 5th century BC when Metics (non-Athenian residents) were denied the right to vote in Athenian democracy even though they were taxed and ordered to serve in the military.
A new legislative amendment passed by ruling Pasok makes immigrants eligible to vote in municipal elections.
Please read the full article at the Athens News for details on who is eligible and how to register.
Tags: democracy, elections, Immigration, pasok, voting
Recent Comments