The Greek government continues its crusade against migrants with continuing evictions, sweep operations and police collaboration with neo-Nazis.
SACHTOURI STREET BUILDING MASS ARREST
ABDUCTIONS AND PUSHBACKS
After a police abduction that took them from the southern end of the country to the northern, the Kurdish refugees who reached the shores of Crete seem to have been transferred to Rodopi, Thrace. There is an ongoing campaign against their deportation, especially the deportation of the children among them and of the ones that have already filed asylum applications in Chania.
In Greek, see http://fmkritis.wordpress.com/
Same with the Chios refugees, who are now detained in Tychero, Evros, near the border with Turkey. The police chief of Alexandroupolis has been contacted by journalists and there are two important facts : first, that there were children among the immigrants, who have now been tranferred to Thessaloniki (the exact place is unknown) and, secondly, that he does not want to give a clear answer on what they plan to do. However, it is considered certain that the police wants to «return» them to Turkey.
In Greek see http://indy.gr/newswire/sto-ty3c7ero-toy-ebroy-kratoyntai-oi-prosfyges-poy-ekdi3c7thikan-apo-ti-3c7io/tyxero-b.jpg
There are also reports of ca. 61 arrested immigrants reaching Peireus port with the Mykonos F/B. http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1064479
SWEEP OPERATIONS AND POLICE – FASCIST SCUM COLLABORATION
According to the police, yesterday, 109 people were arrested during one more storming of the center of Athens by various police forces. About 90 of them were sans papiers. What is more, at evening at 9.00, fascists went down in Attikis square - around which many immigrants live -, without even previously announcing their presence with the infamous "committees of residents” rally calls. The fascists came to the square and began to bludgeon whatever laid ahead of them; they also sprayed faces with some unknown gas . At least three refugees were transported to hospital, many others were injured. Among the injured people was an American professor who was in the area and attempted to photograph the racist pogrom. He spent the night in the hospital, with blows to his head. The fascists took his the camera. Around the square there was a large police force, who not only did nothing, but went on to mass arrest mainly Afghan refugees!
In Greek, see http://indy.gr/newswire/agria-epithesi-fasistn-kai-mazikes-syllpseis-apo-tin-astynomia-3c7thes-brady-stin-pl-attiks
EVICTIONS, MASS ARRESTS AND CLASHES
Today the police evicted immigrants en masse from two buildings in the center of Athens, which had been designated by the prefecture of Athens as dangerous for the public health or something. Police forces invaded the buildings at Sachtouri 7, and at Veranzerou str. near Omonia, and arrested a total of 86 immigrants.
During the eviction at Verantzerou street neighbors and immigrants with flags of Somalia were gathered in support of the arrested people, as well as some PAME (Communist Party trade union) members and a Communist Party MP. The Somali women at some point reacted vocally and attempted a sit-in protest, but the cops confined them again in the building to isolate them from journalists. According to the cops, the building was rented to a company which sub-letted it illegally to immigrants for of 5 euros a day per person.
When the cops tried to transfer the arrested immigrants from the rear street where they thought they would face no obstruction. Once this was understood by the assembled immigrants, some óf them moved to the rear of the police vehicle to prevent it from departing. Some of them clashed with riot police men and other police forces with sticks, punches, etc. The police vehicles made it to leave afterwards, leaving behind women and children. A few minutes later the large police forces withdrew from the point and concentrated their attention to guarding the nearby police department.
During the operation, a passer-by woman of about 50 years complained loudly about the police brutality calling the cops fascists for behaving this way to the immigrants. An undercover cop grasped her by the head and attempted to take her to the police station but people protested and intervened and the woman managed to escape.
Angry Somali men and women broke the window of a shop on the ground floor of the building where the immigrants lived. The squads were on the corner and intervened directly and there were more clashes. Indeed, the shop-owner had been insulting the immigrants everyday by calling them racist names, and has been a pioneer member in the “committees of residents and shop-owners” of the center – perhaps this is why the passing police patrols salute him.
The building was not completely evacuated, there were immigrants left inside when the police left.
About the evictions see http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1064260
The Somalis took it to the street on a protest march later in the day – photos at http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1064493
As an Athens Indymedia user commented, this day was an Ode to the Barbarity of Democracy -5 days ago was the anniversary of 35 years of Greek Democracy after the fall of collonnels’ junta back in 1974.
Many photos at:
http://indy.gr/newswire/odos-beranzeroy-i-ellinik-dimokratia-giortazei-ta-35-3c7ronia-apo-tin-apokatastasi-tis-dimokratias-gyrizontas-piso-to-3c7rono
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1064459
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1064459
Comments
Yet we hear nothing of it in
Yet we hear nothing of it in the press over here...
Fucking discgraceful!
In the UK as well we have
In the UK as well we have heard nothing about any of this, which makes these reports all the more important. Thank you for keeping us updated.
What's going on with the
What's going on with the corporate media? it's surely cash they're after, and nothing would sell more papers than the ssangyong occupation or rise of fascist activity/state in greece.
Although actually.. the greek situation would be portrayed that the immigrants are scum and the state is "cleaning up"(this is how it was portrayed when the patras "kristallnacht" was on telly).
Well considering that
Well considering that Melbourne (my city), has the largest Greek community outside of Greece I am quite annoyed that so little has been said here...even the Greek newspapers here had only a tiny article on the cops dispersing anti-racism protesters. That's all.
i do not have the best
i do not have the best knowledge of TV coverage, but my impression is that, as rightly pointed out by Gabs,the mass media in general suport the "cleansing" of Athens center (they now leak something like 150 buildings!) and focus on the "criminal findings" that "sweep operations" are to thank for... the "progressive" ones ask for human rights compliancy...
...but given the progression of police operations and the diffusion and solidification of anti-immigrant sentiments, now to say "yes, the living conditions of refugees in urban centers are a problem, but they should be treated in a humane manner" in effect means "yes, hide them in refugee camps".
As for the pushbacks and much of the stuff above you dont hear nothing at all...
There is criticism, from NGOs, the UN, the Left, the anarchists, but things are on a bad track now...
As for Greek diasporas, I am not sure about Australia, but at least in the USA they support the government and get mad when international media criticise Greece for human rights violations - for instance for having double standards towards Greece and Turkey in their accusations etc.
Actually the New York Times
Actually the New York Times featured an article recently condemning Greece's anti-immigration policy: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/opinion/29iht-edfrelick.html
Gabs: Quote: What's going on
Gabs:
This is a commonly held misconception. The press do not make money by selling papers to readers. The physical papers are actually sold at a loss. The majority of their income comes from selling an audience to advertisers.
Thus, their primary interest is in appealing to corporations which purchase advertising.
Chomsky has written extensively on how the media functions, via the propaganda model, I would highly recommend reading about it. A brief summary here:
http://libcom.org/library/manufacturing-consent-propaganda-model-edward-s-herman-noam-chomsky
And a relevant short extract: