Ongoing Evictions
Published by deviousdiva October 24th, 2006 in Roma.Via the International Herald Tribune
During the recent municipal elections in Patras, a banner was hanging in the city centre that read ” No more Roma in Riganokambos ” The city, which is the European cultural capital this year, had promised to promote cultural diversity but instead
efforts have focused on attracting foreign musicians and performers to the city, not on promoting tolerance toward a stigmatized minority
The authorities have carried out massive “cleaning” operations in a bid to win the votes and at least 400 Roma have lost their homes since July. The European Human Rights commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg who visited Patras last month, said that
abusive decisions sometimes are taken at local level does not absolve the central government of responsibility
Abet Hasman, the deputy mayor and head of the municipal social services unit that ordered the recent evictions there, said
The municipality is renting apartments for 18 to 22 of about 70 evicted families until the government approves loan applications for them to buy their own homes
Panayiotis Dimitras from the Greek Helsinki Monitor disputes that claim
Most local Roma are sleeping rough, have left Patras or are looking for a home, so where are these relocated Roma?
For example, Antonis Georgopoulos and his wife and six children (below) were offered a mere €200 as compensation for the loss of their home and they are currently sleeping in their truck.
The Roma at Votanikos in Athens are also still under threat from eviction to make way for a new stadium there (because clearly Athens doesn’t have enough wasted sports facilities after the Olympics). For more on the Roma in Votanikos, go to the Roma series at the top of the page.
The president of the Union of Greek Gypsies, Yiannis Halilopoulos believes that a campaign to educate children about the Roma would break down the prejudices that exist
The roots of racism against Gypsies are not very deep. Calling us Roma makes us sound foreign. We are Greek. The Tzigano, or Gypsy, element relates to our tradition, our music, not our nationality
Read the full article by Niki Kitsantonis at the International Herald Tribune.
CENTRE ON HOUSING RIGHTS AND EVICTIONS (COHRE)
Address: 83 Rue de Montbrillant, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Telephone: +41-22-734-1028; e-mail: media@cohre.org
GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR (GHM)
Address: P.O. Box 60820, GR-15304 Glyka Nera
Telephone: (+30) 2103472259 Fax: (+30) 2106018760
e-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr website: http://cm.greekhelsinki.gr
PRESS RELEASE
17 October 2006
Government of Greece fails to stop forced evictions of Roma
The Greek Government is failing to curtail ongoing widespread anti-Romani abuses by local authorities, particularly in the area of housing, warn local and international human rights groups.
Reports from the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) and Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) reveal that local authorities in Patras and Chania have destroyed more than 70 Roma homes since July 2006 while more than 200 homes are threatened with eviction.
Jean du Plessis, Executive Director (a.i.) of COHRE, said, “These recent evictions clearly indicate that the Greek government is not taking its international legal obligations seriously and is turning a blind eye to the systemic abuse of the human rights of Roma in Greece. The Government should act immediately to provide secure and appropriate accommodation for all the evicted families, pay compensation for destroyed property and prosecute the local officials and police who carried out the demolitions.”
Nearly 60 Roma homes were demolished in Makrigianni and Riganokampos districts by the Patras municipal authorities since July 2006. The Municipality has claimed that some of the Roma families (varying from 5 to 17 in different statements) have been relocated to rented homes. In actual fact, only a few families were each given compensation of a few hundred Euros and, in some cases, an oral promise of a rent subsidy if they agreed to move out.
The latest illegal eviction took place during the morning of 26 September 2006. Just hours before the visit to the settlements by the Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe (COE), Thomas Hammarberg: a family of eight was rendered homeless. On the following day, two Roma were arrested, remanded in custody and taken to court on the next day, for having added protective nylon covers to their homes. They were acquitted by the court. On 12 October 2006, two more Roma were arrested, remanded in custody and taken to court on the next day, for doing repair work on their home. One was acquitted, while the other was referred to the juvenile court.
Panayote Dimitras, spokesperson for GHM, said, “Greece continues to forcibly evict Roma families without providing adequate compensation and resettlement despite two rulings of the European Committee of Social Rights in 2005 and 2006, which found Greek policies with respect to housing and accommodation of Roma clearly violate Article 16 of the European Social Charter. It is appalling that a particular ethnic minority – the Roma – are being frequently and systematically targeted for forced eviction, and the Government of Greece has made no initiative to ensure that they have equal access to accommodation.”
Du Plessis of COHRE, said, “COHRE and GHM are concerned about the threatened eviction of over 200 Roma households in the Votanikos district of Athens to make way for the construction of a football stadium. Moreover, the plight of this community is merely one example of the widespread practise of illegal forced evictions of Roma in Greece. Greece’s policy of forcibly evicting Roma communities in a bid to ‘beautify’ and ‘clean up’ the Greater Athens area is inhumane and in violation of international human rights law and the European Social Charter. There is absolutely no excuse for an EU member state to behave in this inhumane and illegal way.”
In an unusual turn of events, local authorities of Patras issued a statement following Thomas Hammarberg’s visit to Greece to interview Roma - attributing comments to him that he never made, which both criticised GHM and congratulated the Patras Municipality.
Dimitras of GHM said, “We call upon the Government of Greece to take immediate action against the Patras Municipal authorities for making false statements on behalf of an international official, which could mislead public opinion and undermine the efforts of the COE.”
I believe the Greeks have more important things to worry about:
Ethnos
Politis
Panagioti, where is your human rights watch in these instances?
O.K……SPOOKY (HEPHAESTOS)..MULDAUR
, im a sucker for a good conspiracy theory
bet youve seen every damn X-FILES episode,
cant makeup my mind , on this one,, though
WHY would a C.I.A. THINK TANK report this kinda
of thing, in virginia NONETHELESS
all experiments of our neighbors are overanked
and watched by highranking us military ,,? xmmm,,?
whos to gain what , ?
WELL I SUPPOSE THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE ,,,,,
so you write your congressman
ill think about it ,,
and send a letter to my prime minister,of greece
on what they think about it,, ……think KOYMOYTSAKOS
of greeces foreign office will reply ..?
OUR BELOVED DORA PERHAPS.?
because panagiotis sure as hell doesnt have to.
OK…… HEF. satisfied.
zardoz, you are completely predictable. The jury still out on the above claims. However, the article has been posted on a very well respected US magazine.
Panagioti, I have asked before, where does your group gets its funding? How about providing us with some accountability?
The same accountability you demand from everyone else.
>>>>The jury still out on the above claims.
Indeed! Even Tassos (who, one would think, would jump at the opportunity) was pretty restrained in his statements concenring the report. I would also note that the story comes from a journalist with at least one, shall we say, dark spot in his journalistic record. Anyone remembers how Ignatiou twisted the Nathan Associates’ report on the UNOPS funds just before the referendum on the Annan plan (and how Tassos fully adopted his version of the events)? And, Hephaestos, for someone wo allegedly cares about the missing ones, pray tell us what do you think of the fact that all post 1974 Cypriot governments knew that at least 180 missing soldiers were dead (and knew their burial grounds) but continued to be included in the missing persons lists - presumably in order to inflate them? Or why would it take until 2000 for the Cypriot Gov to publish the names of the missing persons in its official gazette?
I appreciate that issues do come up for people when I post articles and I know that this is Hephaestos pet subject (the things I don’t write about rather than the things I do!) However I would appreciate it if you could try and stay on-topic. I have asked many times before and it seems I am being ignored. I will delete off-topic comments. It detracts from the issue I am bringing up and quite frankly, in this case is disrespectful to the people I am wriitng about.
Also: a note for the future. The majority of my readers do not read Greek so if you start a discussion from links to Greek news sources, most will not know what you are on about. I respectfully request that you refrain from doing it. Thank you.