Greece’s Ministry for Citizen Protection plans to recruit 100 members of the Roma community to work as “secret agents” in settlements.

The recruitment is part of the plan of the Greek Police to control
delinquency in camps in the western suburbs of Attica and the rest of Greece.

The plan was revealed by newspaper TA NEA a few days after Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis announced that a force of 70-100 police officers will be placed in the  camps to control delinquency.

Citing high-ranking sources the daily reported that “there will be a better understanding of the choices and processes within the Roma community that lead to illegality as well as the family structure of certain gangs.”

The project, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, has as its main goal the better operational planning and the creation of information networks of the security authorities to deal with gangs in the western suburbs of Attica, but also where there is a density of Roma, as this particular community is considered to have a large share (over 50%-60%) in thefts, burglaries and fraud.

It is indicative that security officials had recently proceeded to establish a special committee to overcome certain legal issues concerning the determination of the qualifications and qualities of specific candidates for recruitment. This is because the Roma are Greek citizens and the relevant separation was not considered easy, in order to avoid complaints of discrimination against this social group, which must be treated with sensitivity.

The qualification needed for the recruitment is that candidates have completed high school and know the Romani language.

These special police guards will serve in Athens, Thessaloniki and other areas (such as Ilia in Peloponnese), where large Roma communities live. In fact, if the relevant project succeeds, there will probably be new recruitment from this community in the security authorities.