The current Pasok government has been keen to gain the immigrant vote for some years now and has made positive steps towards achieving that aim. A new law in Greece allows non-EU residents who have a permanent five or ten year residence permit to vote in the upcoming local and regional elections.
However, the procedure is not easy because it has been extremely difficult to acquire the correct papers. Some people have been living here for 30 years or more and have only been able to secure a residency permit that they must renew every two years which disqualifies them from voting.
The change in law comes after the European Council adopted the Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level in 1997. It stipulates that immigrants with five years of lawful and habitual residency be allowed the right to vote and the right to stand in local government elections within the EU.
There must be changes in the procedure of getting a residency permit before this law has any real effect on the voting rights of non-Greek residents but this is the first real step forward in many years.
Read the full article at the Athens News
Tags: democracy, elections, Greece, Immigration, voting
An update from the previous post.
The Greek government says it will grant refugee status to a group of Iranian men who have held a hunger strike to protest long delays in the processing of their asylum applications.
A government statement Monday said all six men, two of whom had refused food since July 19, were given political asylum.
The Iranians have camped outside the Athens offices of the United Nations refugee agency, claiming their asylum applications were unanswered for up to nine years. They said they faced persecution in Iran for their beliefs.
Human rights groups have criticized Greece’s asylum system. Only about four in 10,000 applicants are granted asylum, and a backlog of more than 45,000 appeals has built up.
Greek authorities have pledged reforms.
The Facebook page for the hunger strikers is here and includes a petition to sign.
Via the Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece: Iranian refugees in Athens have launched a hunger strike to demand that Greek authorities process their asylum applications, following what they say has been nine years of delay.
Rights activists say the protest highlights deficiencies in Greece’s system of granting asylum to refugees — with only about 0.04 percent of all applications being accepted every year.
Two of the five hunger strikers outside the United Nations refugee agency’s offices have refused to eat for a month.
They said Thursday they have been waiting for up to nine years for an answer to their applications.
Semko Mohammadi, a member of the Union of Migrant Workers in Greece, says “they have lost the best years of their life in Greece,” adding that the men faced persecution if they returned home.
Two Iranian refugees, whose asylum claims have been pending for years, are on hunger-strike since last Thursday morning (29/7) outside the premises of UNHCR Greece. In relation to this, the Head of the Office, Giorgos Tsarbopoulos, made the following statement:
“The despair of the Iranian hunger-strikers stems from the lasting problems of the asylum system in Greece, which violates the principles for a fair, efficient and effective examination of asylum applications. Their claim for a final decision about the status of political refugee is absolutely fair. It should be noted that more than 45,000 persons have been waiting for years their cases to be examined at second (and final) instance. The appeal committees, that had been operating, even in a limited way, until the fist semester of 2009, were abolished by the P.D. 81/2009. This led UNHCR to decide not to participate in the asylum procedure and criticize the relevant legislation. Today, we await the adoption of a new P.D. that, inter alia, will re-establish the appeal committees, with a view to examine all pending cases. Our Agency, which participated in the preparation of the new legislation, is trying to have the P.D. adopted before summer and for the committees to be able to start work in autumn. In addition, the new law which will transfer the asylum responsibility from the police to a civil Asylum Service should be voted by the Parliament as soon as possible.
Despite UNHCR efforts, the initiative for the adoption and implementation of these legislative changes is with the Greek State. Therefore, it would be irresponsible if we “promised” to the hunger-strikers but also to other asylum-seekers that hold a “pink card” when the appeal committees would start working again.
We have explained all the above in detail to the hunger strikers, as well as to their partners that stand by them, during repeated meetings that UNHCR staff and me personally had with them in the last two weeks. We also explained to them that we cannot help them at this stage, since there are no committees to examine their claims. The anticipated participation of UNHCR in the committees that will be created will constitute a guarantee for a more fair examination of the asylum claims. We understand fully that this explanation does not satisfy the hunger-strikers, since it does not provide an immediate solution to their problem. But this is the reality. A different response would be misleading and raise false expectations.
I would like to stress that we defend the right to a peaceful demonstration, as is the current case. In the meantime, we are in regular contact with the NGO “PRAKSIS” that provides doctors and psychologists to look after the hunger-strikers, because what is most important is the life of those people”.
Tags: Asylum, Greece, hunger strike, iran, iranian, Refugees
IMMIGRANTS living in Greece have until the end of the month to register to vote in the November 14 local elections.
For the first time, those who have resided legally in Greece for five or more years and possess the correct residence permit can take part in the poll. Non-EU citizens require a permanent, 10- or 5-year residence permit, while EU citizens need their registration certificate.
According to the interior ministry, more than 11,000 people have expressed an interest in registering. In addition, almost 1,800 EU nationals and Greeks living abroad have already submitted applications. To complete the process, those wanting to register must go to their local municipality’s election office and bring with them their passport and registartion certificate. The deadline for applications is August 31.
Tags: democracy, elections, Greece, Immigration, Legal Issues, voting
I am taking a short break from blogging. Unfortunately, this will not involve any holidays or trips to islands. As with most people here in Greece, we are unable to stretch to that.
I hope everyone who is managing to get away this summer enjoys the break. Courage and best wishes to the rest of us.
See you all in a couple of weeks…
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
Loading...
Recent Comments