UNHCR
Greece Press
Review 21-25 May 2011
Suspected
smugglers open fire on police-Frontex officers in
Evros
Four
Greek border guards and two German officers, dispatched to the Greek-Turkish
border by Frontex, emerged unscathed on Friday (20/5) after four suspected
Turkish smugglers opened fire on them with hunting rifles. The smugglers had
been preparing to disembark a group of nearly 100 migrants onto an islet in the
River Evros, when they spotted two police patrol vehicles on the Greek side of
the border. The suspects fired their guns in the air at first and then at the
two vehicles which were a few hundred metres away. Neither the Greek nor the
Frontex border guards returned fire but contacted the Turkish police that
arrested a group of 97 people including the suspected smugglers. According to
the Head of the Evros police officers’ Union
the number of irregular immigrants entering
Greece
via the Evros
River
has increased to more than 100 per day following a brief
lull.
(Kathimerini,
Eleftheros Typos, Ethnos, Makedonia, Aggelioforos, Avgi, Express, Imerissia,
Avriani, Eleftherotypia, 21 May/ Makedonia, 22 May)
Local
reactions to announcement for detention centres
Announcement
by the Citizen Protection Ministry on the establishment of 10 detention and 5
first reception centres to host over 5,000 irregular migrants has caused strong
reactions in respective communities, fearing rise in criminality. According to
“Initiative against Detention Centres for Migrants” in Evros, the prevailing
opinion among the local community is that citizens are able to accept only
improvement of living conditions in existing centres, but not the creation of
new ones. Several representatives of local authorities of Igoumenitsa, Sparti,
Aspropyrgos, Amfilohia, Xiromero and Elliniko have also expressed opposition to
the creation of centres.
(Avgi,
Eleftherotypia, 21 May/ Eleftheros Typos, 22 May/ Demokratia, 23
May)
Citizen
Protection Minister: “Immediate repatriation for illegal
migrants”
In
an interview on Sunday’s “Eleftherotypia”, Citizen Protection Minister Christos
Papoutsis heralded that the government is proceeding with “the immediate
repatriation of illegal migrants” and urged all citizens, local communities as
well as local authorities to demonstrate a positive attitude towards the
government’s planning especially with regard to the establishment of detention
and first reception centres. Papoutsis stressed that “we have the obligation to
create modern facilities that respect human rights”.
(Eleftherotypia,
22 May)
Data
on asylum applications
According
to recently released data on asylum procedures, first instance asylum committees
have received since 10 January, 2,159 claims, of which they have examined 2,078
and accepted 161. Second instance committees have received 1,730 applications,
of which 272 have been examined and 147 rejected. As far as the backlog of the
47,000 pending asylum applications is concerned, 464 persons have been invited
since 20
January, 189
of whom have presented themselves before the committees. 148 asylum claims were examined and 11
were rejected.
(Kathimerini,
21 May)
Repatriation flight
for 40 Afghans
40 irregular migrants
from Afghanistan who opted to
voluntary repatriation departed from Athens on Monday
(23/5). Irregular migrants signing
up for the repatriation program are given a ticket and 300 euros each. Their
return is assisted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and
police officers stationed at the airport. The plane's departure marks the start
of the second phase of the repatriation program, since another 500 third country
nationals -all lacking travel documents- are expected to be voluntary
repatriated by the end of June. Another 586 irregular migrants have already been
returned to their homelands during the first phase of the
program.
(ANA-MPA,
Naftemporiki, Ethnos, 23 May/ Kathimerini, Adesmeftos Typos, Ethnos, Avgi,
Express, Chrimatistirio, Rizospastis, Vradyni, City Press, 24
May)
UNHCR delegation
visits the Dodecanese
A delegation of the
UNHCR Office in Greece in the framework of
the program "Asylum Management in Greece", met on Friday
(20/5) with the Deputy Regional Governor of the Dodecanese Fotis Hatzidiakou.
UNHCR representatives were briefed on the various issues raised by the local
community with regard to irregular migration. The Deputy Regional Governor
referred to local authorities’ efforts to ensure reception conditions for
migrants, highlighting the tolerance demonstrated by the local community but
also the citizens’ strong concerns for security.
(sky.gr, 20
May)
Violence through the
eyes of migrants
Racist violence
against migrants in Athens centre has reached
explosive dimensions in the aftermath of the murder of a 44-year-old Greek male
early in May. Despite that the family of the 44-year-old has publicly denounced
the exploitation of his death by the ultra nationalist group “Chryssi Avgi”,
migrants’ testimonies of racist incidents rapidly spreading around are
indicative of the prevailing atmosphere. “Yesterday a young Greek woman together
with a young man passed me by as I was walking down the street. Suddenly the
woman started to beat me on the head with a big wooden stick”, said Ali, a
20-year-old Afghan. “This happens every day in Athens centre for a long
time. They beat everybody”, he added. Hassan, a 9-year-old Afghan boy was
attacked together with his brother and their mother as they were on their way
for the kitchen soup provided by Athens municipality. “My
legs hurt me so much. I had to run a lot these days”, he said. 23-year-old Ahmad
from Egypt is standing scared
outside an apartment building. A few days ago he was attacked by five Greeks who
raided into his home. “Police were there, watching everything”, he
said.
(Kosmos
toy Ependyti, 21 May)
Thousands
of migrants in squalid conditions in Athens
centre
Municipality
services have registered over 400 sites in the centre of
Athens
(derelict buildings, bus shelters, parks, etc.) where homeless people including
many undocumented migrants sleep in squalid conditions, among rubbish and rats.
More than 2,000 migrants living in
the triangle of Geraniou, Pireos and Sofokleous Streets are practically
homeless. According to a report by the Greek Ombudsman, a great number of
irregular migrants live in rented apartments of the centre in conditions that
are beyond all tolerable limits of decent human living. Meanwhile, owners rent
inadequate rooms at extremely high rates. Ahmed from
Somalia
lives with his wife and five children in a 10 square metres room that he rents
for 200 euros per month.
(Ethnos,
21 May/Ta Nea, 23 May)
Greece
following Spanish model for Evros fence
Greece
is studying Spain’s
use of border fences, in two of its cities on the North African coast, ahead of
the construction of a similar barrier to irregular migration in the northeastern
region of Evros. The construction in Melilla
consists of 11 kilometers of parallel 3-meter high fences topped with barbed
wire, with video cameras, regular watchtowers and a road running between them to
accommodate either police patrols or ambulances. The fence in
Ceuta
is similarly equipped. “The construction of
the fences in Ceuta and
Melilla has produced
results,” said Deputy Labour Minister Anna Dalara. There is also a reception
centre there, which helps for the proper treatment of undocumented migrants
(medical care, social and psychological support, legal aid etc.)
Dalara
also noted that Spain
had not just relied on fences to tackle immigration problems but has also put
into place integration policies in which local authorities play a big
part.
(Kathimerini,
24 May)
Intercultural
mediators to be placed in 21 hospitals
109
trained intercultural mediators will be placed in 21 hospitals in
Athens
and Thessaloniki
in order to help immigrants communicate with hospital staff in their language
and explain their medical history. According to specialists, immigrants’ access
to public health services will contribute to their integration in the Greek
society.
(Ethnos,
25 May)
Asylum
granting – an impossible dream
Asylum
seekers in Thessaloniki may wait up to 2 years to be granted a pink card,
according to a report by the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) that was presented
during a seminar titled “Political Asylum and immigration: Challenges for Greece
and Europe” that was organized by the Aristoteleio University of Thessaloniki
and GCR. This was the case of an asylum seeker from
Nigeria
who was holding an “Administrative Note” from the local Aliens Directorate for
about one and a half years instead of the pink card which he received in April
2011 after having submitted his application in October 2009. Moreover, foreigners who want to apply
for asylum do not receive proper information on the procedure, while there is
also a lack of interpreters.
(Avriani,
21 May)
Composer’s comments on migrants cause stir
Comments
by the respected Greek composer Dionysis Savvopoulos, according to which
undocumented immigrants living in central Athens,
should be sent to sparsely-inhabited Aegean islands for farm work under the
aegis of the UN Refugee Agency, has caused a stir. Speaking to
Athens
municipal radio Savvopoulos said that the problems being caused by a burgeoning
population of irregular migrants in the city’s historic centre were overwhelming
and called on authorities to declare a state of emergency and remove all
migrants from the area. “Athens
cannot become the dumping ground for all these people,” Savvopoulos said,
noting, however, a few days later that “legal migrants and people entitled to
asylum should not be affected”.
(Kathimerini,
20 May/ Vima, 22 May)
Please note that UNHCR bears no
responsibility for the accuracy and content of the press summary, which is based
on external news services and does not necessarily reflect the views of
UNHCR.
