Within the last 20 years 269.193 persons were deported from Greece according to the Ministry of Citizen Protection and Public Order. In the period 2001-2012 most of the deportees were Albanians. From 1993-2000 most were Rumanian and 1991-1992 most were Bulgarian.
Continue reading ‘Deportations of the last 20 years’
2,5 months ago the sudanese father of a 5-year-old daughter was arrested for lacking valid documents. The man is living in Greece since 20 years and was on his way to the supermarket to get some food when the police arrested him. His daughter, born herself in Greece, was waiting at home. The desperate father asked the police repeatedly to send someone home to look after his child, but no one cared. The father was sent to detention to Komotini with the aim of deportation, despite the fact that deportations to Sudan are not feasible. It is not known what has happened to the child after the arrest of the father.
Continue reading ‘The father in detention, the 5-year-old alone at home!’
UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants concludes the fourth and last country visit in his regional study on the human rights of migrants at the borders of the European Union: Greece
ATHENS (3 December 2012): Following an invitation by the Government, I conducted a visit to Greece from 25 November to 3 December 2012. During my 9-day visit, I visited Athens, the Evros region bordering Turkey, the Aegean island of Lesvos, and the western port city of Patras. I met with Government representatives, civil society organisations, international organisations, the European Union (EU)’s representation in Greece, as well as migrants themselves, including in detention centres.
Continue reading ‘UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants on the situation in Greece’
The Greek government has been condemned repeatedly by the ECHR for the detention conditions of migrants. Consequently, Greece had to pay some thousands of Euro as fines/ compensation and still did not improve anything. Since 2000 many detention centers have started getting overcrowded. Now, the Greek police in a press conference criticised themselves the inhuman detention conditions of the overcrowded police stations and detention centers in Attica.
While every detainee has the right of 4m2 in detention in many cells, prisons, they have less than 1m2 and in others three persons might even share 1m2! Some police stations do not even have cells and are not equipped for detention. Most of the times, administrative detainees – such as sans-papiers – are detained along with personal arrested for criminal acts in mixed detention. Even worse many times men, women and children have to share cells.
Continue reading ‘Detention conditions in Attica inhuman, police declares’
letter by the Greens to Citizen Protection Minister Dendias
Dear Minister Dendias,
We are writing to you as a follow up to our recent visit to Amygdaleza detention center in Attica, Greece, which took place November 10 and a recording of which can be found here. We hope with this letter to present you with a brief overview of our position and concerns relating to issues falling within your sphere of competence, and to commence a fruitful dialogue.
Continue reading ‘Letter by the Greens to Mr. Dendias and video showing Amigdaleza and minors detention centre’
The Greek coast guard on Friday detained 90 migrants, among them thirteen children, off the eastern Aegean coast, radio reports said.
Officials were alerted to a vessel ferrying 36 illegal immigrants, among them six woman and six children, near the rocky islet of Farmakoniki in the eastern Aegean.
In a separate incident, the coast guard detained 22 people, among them two women and three children as they were sailing in an inflatable raft near the tiny island of Agathonisi, off the coast of Turkey.
Officials also stopped 32 illegal immigrants, among them nine women and four children, off the island of Kasoniki, near Samos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY0Bwy_rJ6Q&feature=player_embedded#at=13
On Friday 30 of November fascists of Golden Dawn attacked in the market of Kalithea (Aristeidou / Xarokopou street) two migrant street vendors (from Egypt and Pakistan). They were attacked and robbed. The man from Egypt is hospitalised with severe injuries on his head. The man was hospitalised in Tzanio hospital with injuries in the face and on his back. Suddenly, the police appeared in the hospital. Shortly after having his wounds stitched the injured man φελτ threatened by arrest ανδ before the medical examinations had even finished disappeared in order to go home where he felt secure.
This happens only two days after the incident in Agioi Anargiroi Hospital where an undocumented woman with cancer had been reported by the director of the hospital himself to the police for being undocumented.
Only one month ago fascists together with the police had attacked again migrants in the area of Kalithea, the officer using his gun to beat migrants on their heads.
indymedia athens (in greek)
tvxs (in greek)
the insider (in greek)
Solidarity poster for the detained migrants in Corinth and Komotini whose protests against imprisonment and detention conditions were violently cracked down by riot police with tear gas and beatings. In Corinth 24 of the protesters and in Komotini 55 of them were criminalised for their protests and brought to the court.
– This poster is spread in Patras by the Initiative against the statal, social and civil fascism.
An undocumented migrant woman – bedridden due to cancer – is currently hospitalized in a public hospital while under custody. The hospital director reported her to the police although her family had already paid the costs of the hospital for her.
The woman had been transferred from Metaxa hospital to Agioi Anargiroi hospital for an urgent operation. Following the operation her relatives paid the hospital bill since she is undocumented and thus also not insured. Then the director of the hospital Mr. Bartzokas reported the woman to the police because she was undocumented – resulting in the woman being under custody in the hospital while bedridden.
Continue reading ‘Undocumented migrant woman with cancer under custody in hospital’
MOVEMENT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
SOLIDARITY TO REFUGEES
SAMOS 20/11/2012
Briefing report
In 2010 members of the Movement continued to visit the detention centre of Samos on a weekly basis. Following serious allegations we received by detained refugees and given their inability to address the competent authorities by themselves, we gathered all acquired information and wrote a letter to the Ministry of Citizen Protection requesting to be informed about the manner in which deportations are carried out.
The letter was communicated to other humanitarian organizations as well as the Police Headquarters of Vathi town in Samos. The authorities not only refused to answer our questions concerning the treatment of the detained refugees, but they also forwarded our letter to the prosecutor, asking him to press charges against the member of our movement who had sent the letter in question for alleged defamation and false statements.
Subsequently, the Prosecutor ordered a preliminary examination, in the context of which all Board members of the Movement were asked to testify about this jointly drafted document. Even though the allegations of the Hellenic Police against our Movement were proven unsubstantiated, the judicial authorities nonetheless pressed criminal charges against the specific member of our Movement who had sent the document and ordered her referral for trial on 6/12/2012 on grounds of “false reporting to the authorities”. Continue reading ‘Criminalisation of activists in Samos / Press Release Group of Samos’