On January 5, 2012 in the early morning hours the police raided the old redundant textile factory of Peiraiki Patraiki where a group of sans-papiers has found a provisory refuge. 40-50 persons were arrested, clothes and other personal belongings were burned and Red Cards (temporary residence permits for asylum seekers) torn apart.
Infomobile
information with, about and for refugees in Greece
This letter was written and distributed on January 2, 2012 after another beating of refugees had occurred in Patras by the coast guard. The same day a young Afghan refugee died of suffocation in Patras while he was trying to resist the cold weather with his friends inside a truck were they lit a small fire. His two friends survived and are currently hospitalised.
In the name of god,
Since we were small kids in our home countries there was trouble, but we didn’t understand what this trouble was. Later we grew up and we understood that this trouble is war. The seasons were changing and every day became more difficult. On this way we reached today.
Since then and until today we are thinking about our future and what our destiny will be. When we were in our countries they were telling us lies. They told us in Europe we would find democracy and we would get human rights. But it is different here. To build up our lives we have to cross the borders. In Greece this is very difficult.
Continue reading ‘Letter of the migrants and refugees in Patras’
Τhree Afghani youngsters (between 15-20 years old), who had recently arrived in the port city of Patras, were temporarily sleeping in the cabin of an abandoned truck in the old redundant textile factory of Peiraiki Patraiki. In order to keep warm yesterday during the cold night (Monday, January 2), they lit a fire in a small vessel. There was no window or opening in the room, doors were shut, and the lack of oxygen caused the suffocation to death of one of the boys. The other two were taken to hospital and are in a critical condition.
see clandestina
read the news in greek
indymedia athens (in greek)
fotos of the truck where the three boys were trying to warm up due to the very cold weather:
all fotos from indymedia athens
I URGENTLY PRESENT THIS PLEA OF HOPE FOR THESE REFUGEES IN ATHENS. ALL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS, PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS CRISIS!
Friday 30 December 2011, article by Basir Ahang in Kabulpress
Afghan refugees in Athens
Within the sprawling city of Athens, Greece, Victoria Park resembles a war front camp. Close to a thousand Afghan asylum seekers, many are children, now call this park home. Hoping to put the struggles of a war torn homeland behind them, they left Afghanistan to find security. Sadly, the hunger, homelessness, cruelty and desperation has followed them on their path.
Continue reading ‘No Shelter, No Protection: Afghan Asylum Seekers Struggle to Survive in Greece’
The victim of the racist attack of December 27 had to be hospitalised
As the Afghan Committee of Greece announced:
Another Afghan compatriot of ours became a victim of a racist attack.
The attack happened on December 27, 2011 in the night in the area of St. Panteleimon Church and by a group of six. They attacked two Afghans who just happened to pass by. They started beating them with bottles. One of the Afghans could escape, the other not. When the one who could escape returned to look after his friend he found him lying on the street with blood running from his head and filling all the place around him. After a little while the victim was transferred to the hospital.
Within one week this is the second incident of racist violence that was registered. The last one had occurred on December 23, 2011 again with one person being severely injured. This kind of attacks meanwhile have become daily in this area and other areas of Athens. The question is until when will that last? Instead of protecting asylum seekers the Greek Police, as we have noticed, is doing the opposite. We believe that the UNHCR but also other organisations and communities and each of us should help to stop the racist attacks. We from the Afghan Committee try to give the victims voice a voice. We want the stabbers to be finally sentenced. For exactly this reason we need to be present at the court case that was postponed to January 12, 2012!
While trying to cross the landborder between Greece and Turkey in Evros (nearby Feres), three sans-papiers died close to the river Evors/ Maritza.
An Iranian women (50 years old) and her 12-year-old son were found at the coast. The third person was a man from Africa approx. 25-30 years old. He was found near to Petrades/ Didimoticho. As it seems all of them died due to the cold weather after trying to swim through the river.
A citizen of Athens reported today (December 26) in the internet of an incident of police violence in the centre of Athens, when a municipality officer beat up a migrant street vendor.
The citizen reported the sudden appearance of a couple of municipality officers wearing helmets and hiding their faces nearby Syndagma square. Some of them were carrying black plastic bags, others were running. One of them tried with the help of a police officer to arrest a migrant street vendor. The street vendor resisted and suddenly one municipality officer wearing a helmet started punching the vendor in his stomach. On his grey helmet was written “Molon Lave” (a famous phrase from King Leonidas of Sparta, meaning: “come and take them” – a phrase that fascists like to quote). Both citizens who became a witness of the police repression and the vendor were shouting.
Police and municipality police were hunting down migrant street vendors in the centre during all of the day.
On the night of December 23, 2011 Safar Haydary, vice-president of the Afghan Community (Noor) in Greece and another three Afghans were attacked by a group of 15 members of the extreme right group Golden Dawn. They had been near by St. Panteleimon Church, an area where many refugees and migrants live and where racist attacks have become the sad picture of daily life. Mr. Haydary was severely injured. For one more time the police while being close to the incident did not do anything.
The vice-president of the Afghan Community Noor after the beating
news in Farsi
The corpse of a man, probably 25-30 years old, was found near to Peplos, Evros. He was trying to cross the border by swimming through the river Evros/ Maritza.
People from Afghanistan, Sudan, Eritrea, Morocco, Algeria, Greece and many other countries demonstrate today against the police repression in Patras. Reason for the protest is the recent accident of a 16-year-old Afghan who while trying to escape the police fell of a building. He is still severely injured in the hospital.
Stop police assaulting us, we have to live in security, we need human rights!
Such kind of “accidents” are no exception in Patras the main transit port city for sans-papiers who try to leave Greece. Sans-papiers have to confront daily police and coast guard brutality, police raids and traffic accidents while trying to escape the police forces who chase them down, arrest, beat and arrest them.
read a recent article about the situation in Patras (in french)
Dans l’enfer des immigrants clandestins, by Jean-Simon Gagné