Members of extreme-right party Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) clashed with riot policeon over the transfer of 250-400 illegal immigrants to an army camp. The incidents started on Thursday morning when police vehicles transported detained illegal immigrants to the army camp of the 6th Infantry Regiment near Corinth, in Northern Peloponnese.
Residents of the area supported by members of Chrysi Avgi led by MP Eystathios Boukouras tried to prohibit the immigrants transfer and clashed with riot police forces, Greek media reported.
Chrysi Avgi members armed with sticks wrapped with Greek flags
Police managed to transfer some 250 immigrants in the camp. The immigrants have been transferred there after being detained in several areas of downtown Athens. They are supposed to remain there, until authorities check their papers and deport them back to their home countries.
Outside the army camp
Transferring immigrants to army camps outside Greek capital Athens has often met with opposition of the locals.
Video: Corinth -ChrysiAvgi/Police
embedded by Embedded Video
YouTube Direkt
In Corinth, the mayor and the city council consider to stop the garbage collection as “retaliation”. In the morning they cut the water supply to the camp, also to the soldiers part. Apparently a prosecutor is investigating.
The Trade Association of the city also opposed the immigrants trasnfer and the Chairman of Corinth Chamber of Commerce said that “it was a mistake to locate immigrants into an army camp”.
Chrysi Avgi issued also a statement, describing as a “criminal action” to convert facilities of the Greek Army into “tourism centres for illegal immigrants”.
Another example of some NIMBY(Not In My Back Yard) Greeks unwilling to become part of the solution. It’s preferable to marginalize GD and ignore their publicity seeking stunts. In order to impede GD’s forward momentum, the Greek government has to implement a three-pronged strategy seeking to: 1) Reduce both the crime & incarceration rates, increase the Hellenic Police’s case resolution rate and improve public safety, 2) Expedite the repatriation of undocumented immigrants, 3) Get the economy growing again. It’s definitively a tall order, but if there’s a will there’s a way.
There are so many wrongs around this item that I can not begin to counter them.
No, not your reporting KTG. A disagree with Nicholas on that point. I have said it before: putting a Cordon Sanitaire around these thugs is the worse thing one can do. Expose them for what they are and how far their tentacles are reaching into society. Actions like that of the Mayor and city counsel are a clear sign of this. With their (intended) actions they are condoning GD’s actions and violence. If so, they are not fit for their jobs and should be relieved of it immediately. IMHO.
This is indeed a prime example of the NIMBY attitude you so like to refer to. I do however not believe that the actions of GD should be ignored in order to marginalie them. On the contrary, they need permanently marginalizing, and the only way to do this is by constantly pointing out the false premises on which they base there “policies”, the double standards they use to promote them, their violent nature, their complete failure to offer any solution to any problem, their blatant lies, and the inconsistancies in their way of operating.
This action is a prime example of all of the above. Here we have the police doing exactly what GD insists needs doing, and what’s the result? GD attacks the police using some ridiculous statements about turning military barracks into tourist centres etc. There is such a thing as “due process”, to be applied even when dealing with immigrants.
On top of that, their insistance on standing for “law and order” was once again shot to bits by their very own actions. There is not too much “law and order” about masked, armed thugs attacking the legitimate police force of a country while they carry out their duties, is there now? Especially not while carrying out that part of their duty the attackers insists on them doing in the first place!
Ephilant
GD’s marginalization won’t be achieved by just verbally condemning their reprehensible, attention seeking rhetoric and deeds. The indifference, incompetence and negligence exhibited by previous PASOK and ND dominated governments to address Greece’s economic and social problems, actually strengthened opportunistic and populist political parties. GD will likely lose its appeal to some Greek voters if sustained government efforts improve the country’s economic conditions, stem the flow of undocumented immigrants and enhance public safety. Some professional Greek politicians are fully aware that if they continue being unresponsive to the people’s needs, they will likely not be reelected.
I did not say simply condemn. That is very much part of it, but what must be done at any and every occasion, and preferably by those in government (who’s silence is deafening!)is pointing out the inconsistencies and fallacies in their
Most people are in fact not anywhere near the idiots they are taken for by this guys. The problem with most people is that they have been numbed into not thinking for themselves, but if something is pointed out to them, it will trigger a “aha” moment with some, and that’s what’s needed. A communal “aha”. GD got one based on lies and deceit, it is time to rectify the situation. And as the government seems to be unwilling to do this….
A “hate speech” law would be a good start.
US Embassy issued a security warning today regarding Extreme right groups targeting people who are perceived as migrants. I was wondering when they’d get off their behinds and make a comment about this. I’m hoping this will pressure the Greek government to do this since it’s now officially on the US’ radar. What would need to happen? A Brit or American of color to be attacked because they thought they were immigrants? I hope the British embassy also comes out with something to warn British tourists of the new Greece which no longer a friendly place for foreigners.
really? any link to US embassy warning?
@KTG fan
You got pretty much everything wrong. The US State Department provides NINE PAGES of information to American citizens contemplating to visit Greece. TWO PAGES are dedicated to the threats to safety and security. The TWO LINES you’re referring to basically state that UNNAMED sources have reported violent attacks conducted by UNNAMED extremists in Athens and other major urban areas against persons perceived to be foreign migrants. For your information the US State Department hasn’t issued a travel or security warning to Greece.
I certainly would call it a warning as someone attacking me because they perceive me to be a migrant certainly would not be called a complimentary invitation now would it? I took it as a warning and my neighbor who gets these US Embassy notices in email told me about it.
@ KTG fan
The unnamed anarchists could had been criminal immigrants violently attacking other criminal immigrants because they were involved in turf wars to control prostitution and drug dealing. These attacks could had taken place because of altercations among immigrants for financial reasons, for personal reasons, while they were under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. It’s possible that Greek criminals could had been the perpetrators of violent attacks against immigrants. Using a wide brush and labeling all the attacks against immigrants as been politically motivated and racist is simply erroneous.
According to the Greek Ministry of Justice as of Jan 1 2012, 7,887 out of 12,479 inmates were foreigners, representing 63.2% of the total prison population. Foreigners have been convicted for violations of Greece’s immigration and labor laws, for crimes such as rape, extortion, kidnapping, armed robbery, larceny, murder, drug dealing, gun dealing, pimping, physical assault, and human smuggling. If you are concerned about your personal safety avoid places where anarchists often assemble and refrain from having late-night activities in high-crime areas.
As said before, all this statistic proves is that there is indeed a disproportionate amount of “foreign” prisoners in the Greek prisons.
However, jumping to the conclusion that this group therefore also represents the largest group of criminals is very, very wrong, and a typical example of abusing statistics to prove a non existing point.
What this statistic DOES indicate is that the Greek judiciary targets a small minority (roughly 10%) of the population, implying different standards of law-enforcement being used for different groups within the overall population.
Under the EU “Social Exclusion” program, sponsored by the EU, Mrss A.M. van Kalmthout, F.B.A.M. Hofstee-van der Meulen, F. Dünkel carried out an extensive study called “Foreigners in European Prisons”, which was published by Wolf Legal Publishers in 2 volumes. If you feel like having a read, this is the ISBN: 9789058502759. The publication is over 950 pages full of proper statistics. You’ll love it, but be warned, it will burst your bubble 🙂
The study clearly shows that the average % of foreigners in prison in Europe is just over 20%.
Remember, the above questions are asked by the EU and answered in an EU sponsored study.
Serious questions must indeed be asked about the % of foreign prisoners in Greek prisons.
Instead of using personal fears
and an isolated statistic to jump to the very wrong conclusion that roughly 10% of a population is responsible for 63% of criminality, you would do a lot better to first inform yourself on the how’s and why’s of foreigners being targeted to such a disproportionate extend as happens in Greece.
Greece must learn that it is not the only country with an immigrant problem. It is however the only country in the EU that has such a disproportionate heavy handed approach to the problem. You must also not forget that other EU countries, mainly Germany, France, The Netherlands and Austria very effectively use “Dublin 2” to land Greece with much more than it’s fair share (and cost!) of the problem…
And just for the record, yes, criminals foreign and Greek alike should and must be treated to the full force of the law of the country they commit their crime in. But not everybody who looks different, dresses different, worships different and speaks a different language is a criminal.
One reason for the higher foreign incarceration rate is that Greek coursts generally give foreigners higher sentences for the same crime as Greeks, so Greeks are getting out of jail much sooner. There was a BBC article recently which stated that the number was much more even between Greeks and foreigners as far as prison population goes. But, obviously, if an Albanian or other foreigner commits a crime, they generally throw the book at them, but if it’s a Greek, they tend to give less of a sentence. This from Greek acquaintance who worked with the court system here in Athens.
I would just say that a criminal is a criminal, and if he robs me I won’t feel better if he’s a Greek if you know what I mean, and as such what is the purpose of even making a point of these stats. I prefer the US system where when a crime is detailed in the media, they are not allowed to say “A black man” or “A white man” did it. They don’t provide demographics that will hype up the local population.
That is news to me, but good news. It’s only proper order that it’s the crime that gets punished, not the perpetrators skin colour, religion, language or nationality.
I heard also that in the USA, candidates CVs do not even include names or date of birth.
and is it true that pigs can fly?
no idea.
Correct in one part. Date of birth, photos, religion, marital status, are not allowed as they are not relevant to the job. Of course, name must be allowed as if the name is not on there then I guess it might be different to know who’s who? But, KTG, I suspect you were teasing me a bit?
No, I didn’t. I had recently read about it.
No here in the US if a crime is committed and the suspect is white the article will mention that in the description of the suspect, if the suspect is black or latino, the description will leave out race. So if the article says “the suspect is a male 20-25 yrs old, 6ft 175lbs, wearing a blue shirt”, you know they are either black or latino. Most of the time once a perpetrator is caught the article will feature a picture and race becomes evident.
But it sounds so PC when mentioned without thinking about it…
Still, it does away with sensational headlines like “Illegal Pakistani Immigrant…..” or “Albanian thieves….” etc. That is what catches peoples eye, and most don’t read any further. The headline is enough to start jumping up and down
Please read how the New York Times covered the killing of a 17-year old black male by a 28-year old Hispanic male and neighborhood watch volunteer in a small city north of Orlando in the state of Florida.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/17/us/justice-department-investigation-is-sought-in-florida-teenagers-shooting-death.html
Indeed, as stated, the headline does not say anything about race, religion or skin colour. As it should be.
The moment it does, people stop reading. It somehow acts like a red rag on bull, and brains and common sense go out the window.
By not using this terminology in the headline, people will need to read further to find out more. And once they are reading, they will keep reading. It is up to the journalist to give a balanced report of the event s/he is reporting on, as this article shows.
Gutter press headlines are meant to shock and intended to generate the knee jerk reaction they do. They are not intended to generate a healthy curiosity and entice people to read on.
You couldn’t have made the point more clearly, thanks.
You are wrong. They have to mention the skin characteristics in order for the person to be identified. Also if they show a photo-fit picture and the suspect is an Afro-American what will they do, colour him white? Oh, please don’t exaggerate. Only when they are unsure of the characteristic can you hold back such details. The only thing that I don’t like is when the news reports a crime when the suspect has ALREADY been apprehended and they mention that he is a foreigner. What is the point in that? By the way I have seen many news reports mentioning that a British person committed the crime in US news reports so that don’t believe that they are so PC.
Sorry my bad. Delete that last comment. I missed a comment further up.
sorry, which one I should delete?
You are forgetting that for crimes with a prison sentence of 3 months or less you can buy your time out of jail. Most misdemeanors can be bought out of prison. If you are someone begging at the traffic lights how are you supposed to buy 3 months worth of freedom. Though anyone here illegally should be detaining and repatriated as soon as possible. However, immigrants here legally are being unfairly treated by the Greek native population because the state has irresponsibly swept the illegal immigration problem under the carpet ever since A.Papandreo opened the border with our neighbors without any border controls. We are facing the second or maybe third wave of illegal immigration in the last 20 years and the problem is not new either for Greece or for Europe.
This is the exact verbiage used: “There have been recent reports of violent attacks by extremists in Athens and other major urban areas against persons who are perceived to be foreign migrants.”
And this is the link to the whole advisory on Greece:
http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1127.html
thanks!
I cant seem to find that anywhere on that page, can you explain where it is? According to this there are no warnings for Greece?
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html
I also needed to read twice to find that one sentance. it’s at the end of warning-paragraph after terrorists organisations/avoid exachia etc. However I understood the last update was from March 2012.
Actually, the update was 23 August, and last time before that was March 12th. That one sentence was added since the last time, but notably, they waited til the end of Summer to make this as not to make too big a dent in already low Greek tourism. Of course, this is just my speculation.
I see. option possible, just as unofficial warning.
@KTG Fan
You’re just speculating, making things up and making quantum leaps in your arguments. What are your ulterior motives?
I did not make anything up. Please re-read the article again and my comments before commenting as it seems your comment has more ulterior motives to me.
@ KTG fan
You’re definitely making stuff up. 1) There’s no security or travel warning issued by the US State Department to Greece, 2) The two lines out of the nine pages of travel info to American citizens you’re referring to, doesn’t name either the sources or the perpetrators of the alleged attacks, 3) The travel info has been issued by the US State Department and not by the US Embassy in Greece, 4) Going from unsubstantiated attacks to indirectly calling for the British government to issue what you call a security warning is a quantum leap. I’m convinced that the main reason you’re making stuff up, speculating and making quantum leaps in your arguments is to insinuate that Greece is not a safe country for foreign tourists to visit.
You are entitled to your opinion of course, and feel free to analyze my words as you like. If I agreed with you then we would both be wrong. No need for you to respond as I won’t be replying anymore to your comments, just a waste of time on my part.
@Nicholas, with 500 attacks by extremists against migrants recently it”s definitely not safe for foreigners in Greece to me
Add to that the open challenge on the police, and the open challenge to the democratically elected government of Greece telling this government (and therefore the people of Greece) that the “stormtroopers” are ready to fight them in the streets, and we are right back to “Kristalnacht” in 1938. The Greek people would do well to make up their minds if that is really what they want, and if not, then it’s high time to do something about it happening.
is it really so dramatic or just populism?
@Kunta Kinte
Regarding the 500 alleged attacks, how many police reports were filed? How do you know that the alleged perpetrators were extremists and not criminal immigrants who attacked other immigrants? Are you aware if the info provided by the Migrant Workers Association was actually confirmed by another source?
I’m convinced that some Greeks are resorting to vigilante justice and participating in an orchestrated campaign of intimidation in order to force some immigrants to leave the country. Such criminals should be apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
hm… too much rigid thinking does not get one further, I’d say. Just in case; do you think that many undocumented immigrants would report an attack to police?
@ Nicholas, I agree with you that they should be prosecuted if they are attacking regardless of the reason. If it is done by other immigratns as you say, does that make it any more less scary for immigrants? I hear what you say that maybe it’s not all Greeks doing this but again I ask you respectfully if that really matters to the person who was attacked who did it? And from what I read, it costs about 100 euros for a police report to be made, and most immigrants cannot afford that 100 euros even for food, so as the blog host says, do you think they are going to do it.
Dear KTG
Not all victims of crime report incidents to the HP(Hellenic Police). Undocumented immigrants who’re victimized and afraid to contact the HP, can report violations of their rights to a number of human rights groups, the media, NGO’s and to their embassy or consulate. Moreover, they’re hundreds of thousands of legal residents who’re naturalized Greek citizens, permanent residents, work visa holders, tourist visa holders as well as foreign students attending Greek universities and military academies. Extremist criminals don’t ascertain the victim’s immigration status prior to commencing their attacks. The statement released by the MWA(Migrant Workers Association) alleging that 500 racist attacks took place over the past six months will have more credence, if either the Greek Council for Refugees or the Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International had provided similar figures. Just because the MWA alleges 500 racist attacks, doesn’t make it so.
of course, “just because the MWA alleges so”, this does not make it valid or credible. However, I think it is sad, when an educated and intellectual young man falls victim of ideological filters and blinkers and refuses to question things: supposedly immigrants reported this to MWA, for example, or the MWA collected the data from the press reports about attacks on immigrants. And that HRW or AI or GCfR will adopt this number in the future. I don’t say thinigs are like that, but are options.See the issue of Greek homeless. NGO Klimaka claims their number is 20,000. This number is accepted by international NGO’s and other relevant bodies.
Dear KTG
Just because an immigrant has been attacked doesn’t necessary mean that the perpetrator was a Greek extremist motivated by racism and hatred. When Greek citizens are victimized, it doesn’t necessary mean that the perpetrators are foreigners. It’s racial discrimination to blame Greeks for attacks against immigrants without proof or evidence. Equally, it’s racist to regard immigrants as criminals and illegal to attack them with no justification.
Unfortunately, when some people are either having preconceived notions, or using a wide brush, or taking isolated cases and blowing them out of proportion, or misdirecting and misinforming intentionally, or relying on a single source for information, or speculating and rushing to judgement, the truth is likely obfuscated .
NicholasI, it’s nice to protect one’s country but it is problematic when Devil’s advocate takes and foolish pride takes over for reason. Like it or not, Greece is no longer the safe place it was, and it’s honorable that Greek-Americans like you (presume) want to portray it in this former glory. But day to day reality is something else.
Are the mayor and the entire city council GD supporters or are they against the barracks being used for detaining illegal immigrants for other reasons?
I do not know. However they have no right to cut water supply to any barracks belonging to the Greek army.
Access to water is a basic need and a basic right, they have no right to cut water supply to anybody, army or anybody else. GD supporters or not, the whole lot of them should be sacked on the spot simply for coming up with the idea, leave alone doing it. It’s criminal, especially with the heat as forecast.
You and KTG are right. It would be criminal.
Filthy lowlifes. Get out of my country.
Is Kevin a Greek name? I don’t remember hearing about this name day?
Not only Greeks have problems with immigrants…
It’s a fairly familiar name to me. Maybe he’s referring to all the Germans, French, British, Polish, Lithuanians, Latvians, Slovak, Czech, Americans, Pakistani, Canadians, Australians, Spanish, Greek, Russian, Ukranian, Chinese, Indian, Swiss, etc. living in Ireland? All together about half the population of the country?
Or maybe he’s one of the returned emigrants and is now trying to get rid of the “indigenous” population?
Or he’s in the North and stuck in a sixties time-warp, still trying the bomb the British out of it?
After a good feed of Guinness you simply don’t know what might go on in a man’s head 🙂
lol
On August 24, 2012 Greece’s Pakistani community had a gathering in Omonia Square. Its flyer reads, stop the murderers of immigrants, stop the Hellenic Police’s racist operation, stop the attacks of the Neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn. It calls for the legalization of immigrants, to give asylum to refugees and to say no to the concentration camps. It also reads that workers are united against poverty, the memorandums, unemployment, racism and Islamophobia.*
*
http://www.newsit.gr/files/Image/2012/08/24/SYLALHTHRIO.jpg
And about time too that they stand up and demand treatment as human beings. Fair play to them and may they be an example to all those minorities trampled upon world wide in the name of “defending the country”, whichever the country in question may be.
Treat people as people and you end up with integrated, functioning societies. Treat them as inferior and you end up with the very problem you’re so desperately trying to avoid… If you don’t believe it, just try and imagine the reverse situation, or talk to somebody who was a sixties-seventies “gastarbeiter” in Germany, as many Greeks were.
That is of course not to say that this knife doesn’t cut both ways. With rights come responsibilities, for everybody involved.
I understand Tatiana from Tbilisi compiled the flyer!
She probably has a better grasp of the language than they do, anything wrong with asking for a little help?
And it doesn’t really matter who writes it, does it? What is written is much more important…
And, of course, this alleged cooperation between “Tatiana from Tbilisi” and the Pakistani community, which you seem to try and ridicule, perfectly illustrates that people of different culture, race, and religion (I guess) can in fact work together for a better common goal. Maybe GD should take a leaf out of that book instead of doing what they are doing. You just never know how much better a place Greece could become…
Sorry I am not that naive; my sole purpose was to reveal that Tatiana is the wife of Nicholas. No bad intent, though; I am not Jethro Tull!!!
In America a few weeks ago, a white supremacist went into a Sikhtemple and killed 6 people and seriously injured 3 more, including a policeman. He was shot by the police and then shot himself in the head and died. The inured cop, Brian Murphy, was shot 8 times, twice in the neck. As he lay there, he told his colleagues to leave him and motioned to them to help people inside the temple.I think Americans responded well to this tragedy. Obama ordered all government Americans flags, in America and abroad, at half mast in honour of the victims. People of all religions, and none, held candlelight vigils across the nation. People of all faiths came to the memorial service and a Christian priest made the concluding remarks. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were donated for the victims by everyone as well. Michelle Obama visited the victims’ famlies. The Attorney General also declared it an act of terrorism. America can only become stronger with this sort of respons. Hating minorities does nothing to help make a nation stronger.
Thank you for sharing this Jean. This is a perfect example of what makes the US and Britain great. Although we’ll never rid even our own US/UK countries of this type of violence, it’s our resoponse that makes us much more humane than the Greeks lately that I’m sorry to say. Unfortuantely, I have yet to see more than a few individuals in Greece even shed a tear for an immigrant attacked by these racists here. And the general population here are mostly apologists who although they may not agree with violence, care little about this topic as long as it’s not right in front of their noses.
Greeks have many wonderful traits so I don’t want to critize them wholescale but on this immigrant issue, they really seem to be going back 500 years as one of the Greek politicians stated in the recent past.
@KTG fan
You wrote “Greeks have many wonderful traits so I don’t want to critize them wholescale but on this immigrant issue, they really seem to be going back 500 years as one of the Greek politicians stated in the recent past”
People who’re using a wide brush, make unsubstantiated claims, mislead, speculate, make stuff up and rush to judgement are untrustworthy.
Hi, I’m sorry I didn’t reply earlier. I understand what you mean by not wanting to criticize Greeks wholesale. I’m not sure what to say except what is happening is disturbing, all those vicious attacks and the police hardly catching anyone. One can just hope for the best I guess, that law and justice will prevail.
Can we pick a term other than “illegal immigrants?” Sounds so shady and backwards calling a person “illegal.” How about “undocumented workers” or something along those lines?
hm… as not illegal immigrants are workers maybe undocumented foreigners, undocumented migrants?
They used to be known as refugees, which is, in the vast majority of cases what they are. The terminology changed to fit the purpose of the various EU rules and regulations like Schengen. If you label somebody “refugee”, it automatically gives them rights as human beings under the various UN charters etc.
Label them “illegal immigrant”, and they are assumed to be breaking the law, thereby automatically removing those rights. Authority also immediately reserves the right for itself to “grant” those rights or not, by assuming the role of judge and removing the “illegality”(or not).
The purpose of this change in terminology is as simple as it is effective. Accept them as being a refugee, and it is up to the authorities to prove the people are not refugees. Label them as illegal immigrant, and it is not only up to the people to prove they are not illegal, the authorities also give themselves the right to accept or deny that proof.
And you end up with the situation as it is…