A brief report on the conditions refugees and migrants face in Greece. 1.

In recent years, Greece has been the main gate of entrance to countries in the European Union for refugees and migrants from Asia and Africa. The reason for this is that it is easy for them to reach Turkey and then enter the European Union either by crossing the Evros River or by boat reach the Greek is ands !hich are very c ose to the Turkish coast. "o!ever, the natura obstac es of the Adriatic and the #chengen and $ub in % treaties obstruct the continuation of their &ourney to the countries !hich are their destination. This means that hundreds of thousands of peop e are trapped in Greece, !hich is not their choice as they kno! that the conditions they face in Greece are unacceptab e. %. 'or the past thirty years, ever since the mi itary coup in Turkey in 1()*, !ith the first !ave of po itica refugees to!ards Greece and ater !ith the various !ars and dictatorships in countries of the +idd e East, a the Greek governments have stubborn y refused to comp y !ith the internationa treaties for po itica refugees and po itica asy um, despite the persistent pressure from internationa organi,ations and institutions of the European Union. Today, the resu t of this is that there is abso ute y no protection for po itica refugees and on y % or -. of those !ho app ied !ere ever granted po itica asy um. As a resu t, in our country, app icants for asy um, besides the fact that they are confined for many months in prisons upon entering the country, are constant y at the mercy of the semi/fascist Greek po ice. 0According to an ana ysis of recent e ection resu ts, 1*. of the po ice force voted for the Go den $a!n party2. Refugees are sub&ect to arrest, beatings and e3tended confinement in po ice precincts and deportation even if they have been iving for many years in the country. -. The !ork situation for refugees and migrants in Greece is a so unacceptab e. In a the arge agricu tura areas, the !ork force is a most e3c usive y made up of migrants and refugees, !ho usua y are undocumented. They !ork for degrading !ages, for e3hausting hours, !ith no socia security and ive year round in make/shift she ters of p astic sheeting. There are no hea th or diet standards and the !orkers are not on y e3posed to e3treme !eather conditions, but a so to poisonous insecticides. The situation in pou try and pig breeding farms, but a so in c othing manufacturing businesses is the same. In sma businesses !hich emp oy a sma number of !orkers, both in urban and rura areas, migrants and refugees are ob iged to pay socia security dues from their meager !ages, if they have documents, in order to retain their residence permit. The incident in +ano ada, in the 4e oponnese, !here goons !orking for the o!ner of a arge stra!berry p antation fired at and in&ured %5 of the %5* !orkers from 6ang adesh !ho !ere on strike demanding their !ages for the si3 months they had not yet been paid for, is not an e3ception but the ru e. The e3ception is that the !orkers dared to c aim their rights and the emp oyer rep ied by opening fire on them.

7. This year, the terrib e conditions migrants and refugees ive under in our country have deteriorated rapid y !ith the ne! three/party government in po!er since ast summer. The right/!ing party, !hich has the ma&ority, before the e ections, had adopted the agenda of the Go den $a!n party and had promised 8to rid the country of i ega immigrants and crimina ity.9 #o as soon as they came into po!er, they took action to repea a very moderate a! !hich had been ratified in %*1* by the previous socia democratic government !hich, for the first time, gave 0under many difficu t conditions and pre/ re:uisites2 a sma percentage of chi dren !ho had been born and raised in Greece the possibi ity of ac:uiring Greece citi,enship. The a! granted adu t migrants !ho had ega residence in the country for many years the right to vote in municipa e ections. "o!ever, the !orst of a is ;peration <enios =eus. 012 Thus, the ne! =eus, the minister responsib e for the po ice force, as of ast >une un eashed a vicious pogrom against migrants and refugees !ith the aim of deportation. Thousands of armed po icemen took part in a manhunt day and night, arresting and detaining thousands in over/cro!ded impromptu concentration camps as !e as at po ice precincts !here it is not permitted for detainees to be kept for more than %7 hours. In ce s !here it is difficu t for even t!o peop e to fit, it is not uncommon to find more than ten peop e being kept for more than eight, ten or t!e ve months. They are underfed, kept under unacceptab e conditions !ith no hea th standards !hatsoever. +any end up !ith serious skin conditions and various other inf ictions. ?e be ieve that this is the most urgent prob em as it concerns the ife and the menta hea th of the detainees. The initia decision for detention of these peop e is for eight to ten months !ith the aim of deportation and !hen this is not feasib e the decision is rene!ed for one more year. 5. The situation at the borders and at the points of entry remains as harsh as ever. The tactics of the Greek authorities as !e as those of 'ronte3 is to push those attempting to enter to!ards Turkey, both in the regions of Evros and the Aegean. As a resu t, there are often cases of mass dro!ning. The conditions in the concentration camps at the borders are the same as those prevai ing in other camps. ?hat is ne! is that those !ho app y for asy um are threatened that by app ying they !i be detained for a year. This !ay they are dissuaded from app ying for asy um, but they are sti detained indeterminat ey or they are deported. 1. Unemp oyment in Greece, according to officia sources, is %). among youth and, according to the same sources, is near 1*. among migrants. ?ith regards to refugees, the percentage is a so very high a though it is never mentioned. A the propaganda of the former y ru ing parties, of the mass media and even more of the right !ing and u tra/right !ing points to migrants as being responsib e for the fact that Greeks are unemp oyed even though migrants and refugees do a the difficu t and unp easant &obs that no Greek unemp oyed person !ants to do. This creates a !idespread be ief that migrants are responsib e for the crisis, and this is very ferti e territory for the deve opment of the Go den $a!n party. A of the prob ems described above are a huge burden on the shou ders of the Greek anti/racist movement, !hich !as and remains a minority. 'or this reason, !e be ieve

that in Athens it is necessary to discuss ho! !e can aunch a determined propaganda campaign on European sca e both !ithin officia institutions as !e as through activist action in cases !hen decisions concerning these issues are being made. Athens, %1@5@%*1The coordinator of the +igrant Anti/racist Assemb y of the A ter #ummit