ENAR Shadow Report 2005 Racism in GREECE - Andriana Mardaki, SOS Racism Greece Samsideen Iddrisu, Ghana Community
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ENAR Shadow Report
2005
Racism in GREECE
Andriana Mardaki, SOS Racism Greece
Samsideen Iddrisu, Ghana Community
1Contents Table
I. Introduction ........................................................................................................3
II. Political and Legislative Developments.............................................................4
II.i Anti discrimination ........................................................................................4
II.ii Migration, family reunion and asylum policies..............................................5
II.iii Racism as a crime ......................................................................................6
II.iv Counter Terrorism.......................................................................................7
III. Communities vulnerable to racism ...................................................................8
IV. Manifestations of racism and religious discrimination....................................10
IV.i Employment ..............................................................................................10
IV.ii Housing ....................................................................................................11
IV.iii Education.................................................................................................12
IV.iv Health ......................................................................................................13
IV.v Policing and racial profiling.......................................................................13
IV.vi Racist violence and crime........................................................................15
IV.vii Access to goods and services in the public and private sector...............17
IV.viii Media, including the Internet..................................................................19
V. Assessing the response .................................................................................21
V.i Anti discrimination ......................................................................................21
V.ii Racist violence and racist crime ................................................................22
V.iii Counter-terrorism and protection of human rights ....................................22
V.iv Integration and social inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities ............23
VI. Conclusion.....................................................................................................25
VII. Bibliography..................................................................................................26
ANNEX: Overall Assessment of Directive 2000/43/EC .......................................27
2I. Introduction
First of all there are important developments concerning the Greek legislation.
Law 3304/2005 incorporates the EU Directives 2000/43EC and 2000/78EC into
national legal order. Secondly, a new immigration Law came into force. The
report especially focuses on Roma issues relating to racism and discrimination
because Roma, even if they are Greek citizens, are one of the most vulnerable
groups in the country.
Even if Greece has taken steps forward, it was condemned by the European
Court for failing to transpose Directive 2001/55EC relative to the reception and
minimum standards for provisional protection in case of massive influx of
deported persons. Once again the government did not respond on schedule as
expected.
The 2005 shadow report is constituted of six chapters (including introduction)
where the most basic issues are developed, issues that concern discrimination
and racism in Greece for the year 2005. The chapters are the following: Analyses
Law 3304/2005 on the “Implementation of the principle of equal treatment
regardless of race or national origin, religion or other beliefs, disability, age or
sexual orientation” where the Directives 2000/43EC and 2000/78EC are
incorporated into national legal order and the new immigration Law 3386/2005. In
chapter III there is a presentation of the communities which are most vulnerable
to racism. Chapter IV describes all the specific problematic areas in relation to
racial discrimination such as employment, housing, education, health and a
special report for Media and the Internet. Chapter V is a critique presentation of
aspects of NGOs and civil society movements.
3II. Political and Legislative Developments
II.i Anti discrimination
Through the Greek Law 3304/2005 on the “Implementation of the principle of
equal treatment regardless of race or national origin, religion or other beliefs,
disability, age or sexual orientation” the Directives 2000/43EC and 2000/78EC
are incorporated into national legal order 1 .
The above-mentioned Law comes to combat direct and indirect discrimination
mainly in the fields of employment and occupation. It covers the five grounds of
the aforementioned Directives but on the other hand, as it is the usual practice of
the Greek Governments, the Law does not provide the necessary additions to be
truly effective.
The purpose of Law 3304/2005 is to lay down a general regulatory framework for
combating discrimination on the ground of racial or ethnic origin, as well as
combating discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or
sexual orientation as regards employment and occupation. This Law is the first
statute in Greek Legislation, which provides a definition of harassment following
the one given by the Directives. In Greek Criminal Law there is no specific
offence related to harassment.
Article 13 paragraph 3 refers to “legal entities which have a legitimate interest in
ensuring that the principle of equal treatment is applied regardless of racial or
ethnic origin, religious or other beliefs, disability, age or sexual orientation”, which
“can represent the person wronged before any court and any administrative
authority with the written consent of the wronged person”. That means NGOs can
act on behalf and in support of victims before the court and administrative bodies
but under two conditions: 1) that the NGO has a legitimate interest in ensuring
the principle of equal treatment and this means that this NGO should have as
their objective the implementation of this principle and 2) the victim has given
her/his a written consent to the NGO that she/he agrees for the NGO to
represent her/him before the court.
There is a very crucial issue from a practical point of view in article 14. According
this article, the redistribution of the burden of proof regarding the documentation
of illegitimate discrimination between the offended party and the defendant is
attempted, through the limitation of the burden of the former to prove the claim.
Article 18 entrusts the Economic and Social Committee to draft an annual report
on the developments with regard to the application of the principle of equal
treatment, make suggestions to the government and to social partners on
1
Greek Parliament, legislation (2005) www.parliament.gr
4promoting equal treatment and non-discrimination and to encourage dialogue
with NGOs and representative unions, which have a specific interest in
combating discrimination. Moreover, the Law entrusts four specialised
administrative bodies to promote the principle of equal treatment: the Greek
Ombudsman, the Equal Treatment Committee, the Labour Inspectorate and the
Equal Treatment Service.
II.ii Migration, family reunion and asylum policies
A new immigration Law came into force in 2005. Law 3386/2005 applies only to
non EU-nationals who are already living, working and studying in Greece and
those who wish to enter the country to live, work or study2. According the Law,
undocumented migrants in Greece have another chance to be legalised under
certain circumstances and if they can gather a lot of necessary documents and
pay a high amount for social insurance by themselves because most of their
employers refuse to insure them even if it is their obligation.
Moreover, immigrants have to face the famous Greek bureaucracy, lack of
information and civil servants with bad behaviour who often don’t speak the
English language. The immigration Law outlines the rights and obligations of all
non-EU immigrants living, working and studying in Greece.
Articles 71 and 72: Rights
Immigrants in Greece are insured by social insurance foundations and enjoy the
same rights as Greek citizens. They must be properly informed about their rights
and obligations in a language they can understand. An immigrant who lives
legally in Greece and leaves the country for a period may re-enter if her/his stay
permit is still valid.
A very positive element is that immigrants’ children have, without restrictions,
access to school and must attend school obligatorily as Greek children must. To
enrol in public school, they must submit the same documents required for all
children, except if they are refugees, asylum-seekers or if their parents’ legal
residence status is still pending.
The education minister may arrange for the teaching of their native language and
culture within the public school system if there are “enough students interested”.
Articles73-74: Obligations
2
Greek Parliament, legislation (2005) www.parliament.gr
5According to the law, immigrants are required to “personally” submit the
application to renew their residence permit. They are obliged to declare to the
local municipality authorities personal details such as a change in address, a
change in personal status, loss of their residence permit, change of their
passport or other travel document. Immigrants who have remained to the country
after the expiration of their residence permit are obliged to leave the country and
pay a penalty of 600 Euros. If they overstay more than 30 days then they must
pay 1,200 Euros.
Article 74 states that residence in specific geographical areas (such as certain
borders areas) may be prohibited. According article 82 the Ministry of Public
Order keeps a record of so-called undesirable foreigners. The decision to include
or remove an immigrant’s name is up to the Minister of the Interior, Foreign
Affairs, Defence, Justice and Public Order.
Article 53 outlines the conditions for family reunification. It states that immigrants
who have lived in Greece legally for at east two years have the right to apply for
the entry and residence of their family members. There are three conditions for
this: 1) family ties, 2) their family members will stay with them and must have
medical coverage and 3) stable and regular income, sufficient to cover their
needs. The definition of “family” under the law is as follows: a) spouse over the
age of 18 and b) single children under the age of 18 (including legally adopted
children).In the event of a polygamous marriage where the immigrant has a
spouse in Greece, family reunification is not permitted.
Greece has a very strict asylum policy. In the last three years, less than 1% of
asylum applications have been approved. Most recent statistics we have for
2004, published by the Ministry of Public Order, asylum applications stood at
4,469, less than the previous year. Asylum status was granted to 11 persons
(0,9%).
Asylum seekers face a lot of practical problems and the most serious is the bad
behaviour and misadministration by police headquarters. Additional problems are
the bad conditions in border reception centres, the fact that most of the personnel
speak only Greek and that there are no leaflets in several languages explaining
the procedure to apply for asylum.
II.iii Racism as a crime
Article 25 of the Greek Constitution is very important because it states that
private employers must respects the rights of their employees without
discrimination.The Civil Code also contains articles that could be used of people
who are discriminated against or seeking equal treatment and non-discrimination
in their employment.
6Regarding Criminal Law, there are no special provisions for such matters,
although there is Law 927/1979 as amended by Law N.1419/1984, Law
29102001 and the above mentioned Law 3386/2005, entitled “On punishment of
acts or activities aimed at racial discrimination”.
II.iv Counter Terrorism
Last summer during a meeting of the Council of Ministers in Brussels concerning
extra anti-terrorist measures, the Greek Minister for Public Order declared: “there
is no need for additional measures in Greece, which is a safe country”. This
political declaration based on the traditional friendship between Greece, the
Middle East and North African countries wanted to show the practical absence of
Islamophobia in Greece. But immediately after this declaration a new
development as described in chapter V showed that things are not so clear.
7III. Communities vulnerable to racism
There is much racial discrimination in Greece, even though most Greeks find it
difficult to admit to. Communities that are vulnerable to racism are minority
groups, migrants and refugees. These vulnerable groups can also suffer different
degrees of racial treatment depending on their origin.
Migrants and Refugees
For example, migrants from Albania, Asian and African origin are the most
vulnerable groups to racial incidents, while those with European, especially
Eastern Block origin, are less vulnerable. One can justify this with reasons such
as cultural similarities leading to a less xenophobic reaction.
Albanians, due to historical reasons and the fact that they are sometimes
involved in criminal incidents, are generally viewed as criminals and victimised on
many occasions.
Asians and Africans on the other hand are generally disrespected with the view
that they are poor people who are here to take over jobs. Mostly, the Greeks
attitude towards them can be characterised as purely xenophobic.
Greek nationals of Roma origin and the Muslim minority mostly of Turkish origin
also face a different and lesser kind of racism.
Roma community
Groups of Roma people live in many different parts of the country or move
around according to seasonal jobs (mainly agriculture). Many of them live in
municipalities around Athens and mainly in the western part of the city, in fact in
the poorest areas. They live under a lot of social exclusion and discrimination.
Roma people are one of the most wronged minorities in Greece. They are often
victims of racist crimes and prejudice because of their way of life. They remain
the most marginalised social group in Greece.Roma have different ways of life
and traditions from the majority, which are fundamental to their collective identity
and a source of pride for their people. One characteristic feature is the nomadic
way of life - though this is gradually disappearing. They officially remain invisible
for the authorities who they are not willing to develop policies which will permit
Roma to live in conditions of equality of rights and opportunities and to have
access to goods and services. Furthermore, they have to face the suspicion of
the other Greek citizens.
The Roma belong to different “tribes” they do not therefore, constitute an
absolute homogeneous group, but all of them without exception face enormous
8problems. For example, the majority of the Greek Roma are Orthodox Christians;
but most of the Roma who live in Western Thrace are Muslims on the other hand.
Part of the Muslim minority in Greece is recognised by the Treaty of Lausanne of
1923. In recent years, there has been a major influx of Roma of Albanian origin
from Albania, regions of former Yugoslavia, etc.
There are differences in economic and social status between the various Roma
groups. In then Municipality of Aghia Varvara for example, the Roma have
created almost satisfactory living and working conditions and live in normal
housing like the rest of the Municipality’s citizens. But in the Municipality of Ano
Liosia on the other hand, Roma live a wretched encampment in a rubbish dump.
Ethnic Minorities
Greece officially recognises the Muslim minority in Thrace as a religious one but
most of them are of Turkish origin. For the last years the situation has improved
tremendously, even though not all problems have been resolved.
Other minority groups in Greece are Pomaki, who also live in Northern Thrace
and are Muslims, and the so-called Macedonian community who live in Northern
Greece. The last group is looked at especially suspiciously both by the
government and the rest of the Greek population and they are targets of
prejudice and discrimination.
Whenever there is a racial incident, the usual reaction is to brush it off or
downplay the matter by giving some vague excuses in an attempt to justify the
culprits’ actions.
9IV. Manifestations of racism and religious discrimination
IV.i Employment
Employment is also an area that the authorities are not taking serious steps to
implement equal treatment. The administration has taken several actions that
violate the new provision of equal treatment in employment. This is an area
evening which naturalised Greek citizens, minorities and immigrants face a very
high level of discrimination, so most of them are not making any serious efforts to
change the status quo in Greek society, bare a few.
As an example, a request by a naturalised Greek woman (Ukraine origin) not to
apply article 2, paragraph 1, and section b of the Lawyers’ code in her case was
rejected. “A foreigner cannot be appointed as a lawyer until five (5) years after
obtaining Greek citizenship by naturalization.” (Presidential Decree 3026/1954).
This woman had not yet completed her 18-month professional bar association
examinations, upon successful completion of which would officially entitle her
practice. Many have agreed and conceded that the provision in question did
indeed place naturalised foreigners in an inferior position compared to other
Greek citizens.
Another case relative of the Medical Association of the city of Thessalonica saw
a refusal to register a naturalized Greek Muslim doctor of Jordanian origin as a
member, although he fulfilled all the preconditions. This was made public and the
Muslim doctor was finally registered as a member due some interventions.
Roma
The Roma are a closed social group with its own structure and hierarchy based
on the extended family and their language, together with their traditions and
customs. The integration of the Roma is absolutely linked to education. There are
no Roma teachers and furthermore children leave school very early to work with
their parents. Most of them are employed in agriculture and are forced to work for
lower wages as they believe, as many Greek citizens do, that 'they are taking
jobs from them'.
Roma people who live in Athens and other big cities are employed in trading
(street markets) and often face problems of legality because they do not know
the procedures for obtaining a permit and play hide and seek with the police all
the time.
The majority of Roma, about 60%, are unemployed, pensioners, engaged in
housework, etc. In fact, their exclusion from the labour market influences their
whole life and leads them into poverty. Many Greek citizens have a bad
impression of them and are suspicious and bad mannered towards them.
10There is no doubt that Roma women are in an even more disadvantageous
position since they have to stay at home and take care of the whole family are
therefore excluded from the labour market.
IV.ii Housing
Housing is the sector that ironical most people do not consider as an immediate
problem, even though it is supposed to be one of the pillars of human rights. The
problem of housing in Greece affects mostly Greeks of Roma origin. The
dimension of it is such that one can look at it as a deliberate behaviour of the
authorities towards unwanted people or second-class citizens who do not
deserve to be housed. The majority of these people are dwelling in makeshift
without having the proper sanitary requirements, thereby prone to all kinds of
diseases. Those who try to acquire houses are subjected to unequal treatment or
are offered industrial sites, rubbish dumps and unhygienic areas to live.
Roma
The housing problem is recognised as the most crucial one for the Roma. It is a
fact that living in a permanent home is connected with a citizen's ability to enjoy
certain rights and with the capability of the State or private citizens to have lawful
dealings with that individual. Most Roma people have a nomadic life and live in
illegal encampments within the limits of municipalities. The living conditions in the
encampments are unsatisfactory. The Roma live in shacks, among garbage,
without water, toilets or electricity. In this way, non-Roma citizens of
municipalities regard the presence of the Roma as a disgrace to the area where
they live and try to drive them out every way they can.
The municipal authorities also see the Roma who live within their boundaries as
a burden and, instead of solving the problem, simply attempt to get rid of them by
whatever means, even if these are illegal.
Of course, the holding of the Olympic Games was an occasion for driving the
Roma out of many regions. Local communities found a very good reason: the
need for the construction of sports facilities in order to get rid of the Roma.The
truth is that most Roma claim that they want a normal house in their own area,
like everybody else.
A local Roma Association complained about the limited efforts which had been
taken to find a solution to the housing problem of its members who live within the
administrative boundaries of the Municipality of Larissa. In the process of looking
for possible solutions to the above-mentioned problem, the municipality made
sure that the purchasing of lands within its boundaries was financially out of
reach of most people due to the high cost. For this reason, it was proposed that
the Roma should be relocated to the Koulourion area, which is near an industrial
11area. However, the representative of the local Roma Association rejected the
proposed solution emphasising the possible adverse effects on the health of his
people due to industrial pollution. Following that, Roma citizens purchased land
in the adjacent Municipality of Platykambos with the intention of creating a
settlement. The inhabitants of the region reacted to that, in combination with the
fact that the land, according to a plan of Presidential Decree, was characterised
as agricultural land of high productivity. A building permit was therefore denied,
based on reasons of public interest (23/12/2004).
After this incident came an oral commitment from the Mayor of the Municipality of
Koilada that he was willing to accept Roma people in relocate in his region. The
Roma people purchased land again in that area, only to be denied permit again
due to the land being characterised as agricultural land of high productivity. This
decision was put into effect in September 2005. These lands were purchased on
mortgages that had 18 month guarantees and therefore expired by March 2006.
Many Roma that had acquired mortgages will not be able to accomplish their
housing needs due to the above.
IV.iii Education
Roma
Approximately 60% of Roma people are totally illiterate. There are a lot of reason
why this happens: schools are very often far away from their residence; the
phenomena of racism in school; the fact that many Roma families must move
often so children don not have permanent accommodation; and the feeling non-
Roma pupils and their parents that Roma children are not acceptable .
It is typical that Roma children are savagely driven out of primary schools that
they should normally have to attend. The problem is largely due to the fact that
Roma children of a particular area are scattered among many schools in order to
avoid the 'degeneration' of a school because of an 'excessive concentration' of
Roma children there.
Stereotypes for Roma children do not correspond to the reality. Roma children
respond well when the educational process takes into account the needs and
particularities of the students (the fact that they travel, that Greek is not their
mother tongue, etc.). This, however, does not happen most of the time. Roma
children are treated as “trouble” holding back the progress of the other children
and lower the image of the school. In these very adverse conditions, it is natural
that these children should feel unwanted and give up school. It should be noted
in addition that today, when the school assigns a large part of its responsibilities
to the family, it is clear that Roma students are in a highly disadvantageous
position given that their families are not able to monitor or support their education
at home or to negotiate with representatives of the educational system and make
claims on behalf of their children.
12The Greek NGO “Social and Educational Action” established the “Support Centre
for Children and Family” in 1997. The Centre is located in one of the poorest
areas of downtown Athens (Kolonos) and provides direct services through the
Children’s Day Centre, the Youth Centre and the Family Centre. They support
children and families of ethnic or religious minorities in their social and
educational integration. The Support Centre runs three different projects:
a) School Integration Programme for pre-school and school children: school
registration; preparation lessons for school; follow up and psychosocial
support; creative workshop (painting and storytelling); and daily provision
of meals.
b) Social Integration Programme for adolescents and young adults:
Elementary school Certificate Programme; Labour Market Integration
Programme; Video and Photography Project; Music Project; and Creative
Workshop.
c) Family Counselling and Guidance Programme: Legal Counselling and
Guidance (civil rights and obligations, state allowances, school
registration, health services); Individual and Family Guidance (personal
and family empowerment concerning parental roles, motivation for school
integration, health issues).
IV.iv Health
The state of Roma health is perilous because of their bad living conditions About
80% of Roma are entirely without social security. The only treatment available to
them is that for people without means, which means they can resort to public
hospitals where they are not welcome and are not treated like the rest of the
patients. But even a certificate showing they are without means is difficult to
obtain. In these cases, hospitals demand certain fees which they attempt to
extract by seizing Roma's identity cards. The result is that that even those Roma
who had them are deprived of their identity card, which is essential for their
transactions.
IV.v Policing and racial profiling
The police authorities are in charge of security and everyone expects them to
carry out their duties as professionals in upholding the law with the outmost
fairness and equal treatment with regards to all. This kind of responsibility equally
applies to judges. Unfortunately, this may only be applied to the Greeks so far as
migrants are concerned. When a series of crimes are committed and there is
public outrage, the police and the other law enforcement officers always suspect
migrants first, unless proven otherwise. Also when they are brought before a
judge, prejudiced decisions are often imposed. In this kind of atmosphere, harsh
13measures are always advocated for and in the end migrants always bear the
consequences of police brutality and judges’ bias.
According to an opinion poll performed by criminologist Vagena Palaiologou,
there is a general belief among police officers and judges that the rise in crime
rate in the last decade is due to immigrants. The views and attitudes are shared
by a large part of Greek society. Most police officers attribute such a crime trend
to poverty and poor living conditions of immigrants as well as lack of respect by
society. There are a lot of Greek Judges who believe that there are too many
migrants currently living in Greece today and about 100% of judges think that
foreigners could not be protected in the same way as Greeks by the Greek
judiciary. About 57.1% of judges thought foreigners did not fully enjoy all legal
guarantees and half of the administrative judges claimed that being a foreigner
had an adverse effect on most judges’ decisions, while all agreed that it probably
had an adverse effect. Furthermore, about half of the judges said that racism is
due to the behaviour of foreigners, whereas 20.4% attributed racist attitudes to
xenophobia. Foreign offenders were in reality also victims say 40% of police
officers, while 72.3% thought that the presence of foreigners exacerbated the
country’s unemployment problem.
Younger police respondents had a more hostile attitude towards migrants.
Moreover, high-ranking police officers believed that migrants in Greece were not
many, were not responsible for the rise in crime and did not contribute to the
unemployment problems, in comparison to their lower rank colleagues. They also
expressed more sympathy towards foreigners and less antipathy and fear3.
The region of Thrace in the northern part of Greece has the biggest Muslim
minority in Greece. The Greek Supreme Court banned a Muslim association in
Xanthi that wish to call itself “Turkish”. This ruling on 13 January 2005 brought an
end to a lengthy legal battle that dates back to the early 1980s. The Public
Prosecutor’s argument was that the association’s constitution, if legalised, will
have negative consequences on public order and security, thereby endangering
peaceful relations between the two neighbouring countries, Greece and Turkey.
After the ruling, the Muslim minority association’s representatives expressed their
disappointment to their right to self-determination and intend to fight this ban in
the European Court of Human Rights.
On 6 March 2005, a group of NGOs (ARSIS, ACT UP, Athens Feminist Centre,
Network for the Social Support of Refugees and Immigrants and others) carried
out a protest at the detention centre for women and children from third country
nationals on the outskirts of the capital. Conditions in the centre were deemed
unacceptable with not enough space per individual, very bad hygiene and ill-
treatment of women (some of whom may have been trafficking victims and
minors, some unaccompanied even under five years of age).This civil society
3
Kathimerini, opinion survey by Vagena-Palaiologou, (28.07.05)
14activity was followed by relevant questioning in the Greek Parliament directed to
the competent Minister and by a number of newspaper publications.
A Greek NGO, the “Hellenic League for Human Rights”, presented a draft law
proposing the separation between of State and Church in Greece and has given
the floor to a debate among politicians. The proposal has found supporters
among all the political parties which has led to parliamentary questioning. This is
a crucial issue because the Orthodox Church of Greece pays a key role and has
an effect on the State in religious matters. One result of this is the lack of an
official mosque in Athens and outside Western Thrace (where the Muslim
minority lives). The end of Ramadan had to be held in a closed Olympic stadium
in Athens due to the absence of an official mosque in Athens.
IV.vi Racist violence and crime
Racist violence and crime can be characterized as the highest form of racist
behaviour. This kind of act normally comes from people in places of authority, the
police, and a few numbers of incidents are carried out by ordinary Greek
nationals. Police officers think that migrants are not part of Greek society and can
be treated in any way that they like without answering to anyone because no
serious authority will waste time in reprimanding them because of their actions
towards migrants. Due to the professionalism of some media, these incidents are
made public and police officers involved are charged or face some kind of
investigation from the disciplinary committees.
Two police officers were formally charged on January 20 2005 following a
preliminary investigation by the public prosecutor of torture and assault with
intent of causing bodily harm and lesser counts of assault of irregular Afghan
Immigrants in Athens city centre. These incidents involved officers from the Agios
Pandeleimonas police station in central Athens in December 2004.
An assault which caused general public indignation and prompted a leftist group
attack on the premises occurred when about twenty immigrants from Asia were
initially subjected to a routine paper control and then to brutal beatings, death
threats and humiliating treatment. The officers allegedly stripped them and forced
some of them to pose naked during which one of Afghani escaped from police
custody.
The media made a dominant issue in the news for several days which instigated
an internal police investigation that later brought the charges for serious offences
to be pronounced. This development gained a visible position in public discourse
in the early part of 2005. This is somehow regarded as a big victory because is
Antigone - Information and Documentation Centre on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non-Violence,
4.
www.antigone.gr
15the first time police officers are charged with a crime (torture) of this magnitude
since the post–dictatorship in Greece.
Police malpractice, violence and their immunity is coming under attack due to
public comments which express major disapproval feel and call for justice in
defence of the victims. Furthermore, despite the irregular status of immigrants,
the commonly used word for the victims’ status was “economic immigrants” and
this constitutes a great improvement compared to negative stereotypes of the
last decade.
The centre for rehabilitation of victims has strongly denounced that torture has
probably become a systematic practice among small groups of right-wing police
officers due to the lack that the charged police officers followed classic torture
methods precisely and methodically. In addition, the centre criticised the delays
and bottlenecks in the procedure recognising the officers that were responsible
for the tortures, expressing perplexity about the fact that only two officers were
charged for crimes that involved twenty victims.
After September 11th and ensuing terrorist attacks in London, became Pakistani
Muslim communities one of the most vulnerable to racist treatment.
According to the president of the Pakistani Community in Greece, six of his
countrymen were kidnapped after a raid at their home in the Athens suburb of
Petralona, blindfolded and interrogated about the terrorist attacks in London. He
has denounced these kinds of treatment, while they have been ignored by the
authorities (police and the counter-terrorist groups). There has been a call on the
government by opposition parties (left-wing) to investigate the alleged incident.
According to media reports (Ethnos, 08.09.2005), Muslim detainees who were
awaiting expulsion were molested and their Ramadan prayers interrupted on 6
Sept. 2005 by two police officers during an ordinary routine count of prisoners
before 22:00 p.m. This was made known by some of the Egyptian inmates
thereby prompting the Attica Police head office to take disciplinary action against
the two officers.
A Greek5 farmer found guilty of the murder of four persons, of which three were
Albanian workers (among them one of his employees), received four life
sentences from a court in Thessalonica. A 20 year sentence was given to his
younger brother and a friend who participated in the killings. The crimes against
the three Albanian workers occurred between 1995 and 1996 but they were not
discovered before 2004, when the farmer killed the brother of his ex-fiancée,
leading the latter to reveal the secret.
5
Greek newspapers: Kathimerini, 19.08.2005, Eleftherotypia 18.08.2005.
16An Albanian immigrant’s house was broken into by a police officer (assistant
captain) on the island of Anthikithira. They have brutally beaten him up and they
forced him to board a ship that was due for Crete. The officer was suspended
pending a disciplinary investigation.
The advertised European Nazi “camping” fortunately did never occur. In 2005 the
Greek organisers - Chrisi Avgi (Golden Dawn) - failed to find a village or a town
that would accept such an event. According to numerous journalist and NGO
sources, they did not formally state the actual place where the event would take
place. Though they actually admitted that they had a secret mechanism for
contact around Europe that keeps the information flowing. In the end, they just
had a small rally at their headquarters in Athens.
Anti-Semitism
A Jewish community member denounced that two notary offices refused him the
right to take a vow on a holy bible or make a civil vow in Thessalonica. The
notaries insisted on the classic vow on the Gospel and they claimed that a
circular document for interpretation of the law was needed before accepting an
alternative vow procedure, which is however explicitly provided by the Notary
Code and by the Penal Procedure Code.
In November, members of the extreme right-wing organization Chrysi Avgi
(Golden Dawn) wrote threatening anti-Semitic and xenophobic graffiti on a street
wall in downtown Athens, the one leading to the Athens “courts” complex.
The Greek section of Amnesty International published a report entitled “Greece–
Far from publicity lights: immigrants and minorities rights remain in twilight” about
immigrants’ and minorities’ rights violations, referring to abuses, police violence
and serious violations of individual, social and cultural rights. The report
emphasises judicial system shortcomings and unpunished police and port
authorities’ violence, which includes ill treatment and inhuman detention
conditions, beatings, shootings and sexual abuse.
IV.vii Access to goods and services in the public and private sector
This is a section that many people do not pay attention to even though it is
affecting a large number of immigrants who are often frustrated in seeking
recourse. Such cases are normally taken lightly and perceived as not being a big
deal.
The Ministry of Transport refused to transfer drivers’ licenses issued in countries
of origin of naturalised Greeks from the former Soviet Union. The Ministry quoted
a regulatory decision according to which this transfer of license is only extended
to those who acquired their Greek citizenship from birth (i.e. through an official
17act of citizenship recognition) and does not apply to those who acquired it by
naturalisation (whether Greek ex-patriots or foreigners).The above provision is
widely deemed to be in direct conflict with article 4, paragraph 1 of the Greek
constitution that entails the principle of equality. The provision in question
introduces unfavourable discrimination due to national origin against a
naturalised Greek citizen, whether of Greek ethnic origin or not, regarding the
preconditions under which these people are allowed to drive.
The discrimination in question falls within the field of applying Law 3304/2005. To
be more specific, the use of a vehicle is indeed included in legal goods, the equal
enjoyment of which the application of the principle of equal treatment comes into
play for. However, access to disputed goods is not freely available to everyone
according to article 4 paragraph 1 section (h) of the Law 3304/2005, since it
depends substantially on the previous acquisition in each separate case of the
driver’s license provided for in the law. The granting of such licenses does not
constitute a provision of services but is directly connected with the unilaterally
exercised regulatory jurisdiction of public agencies acting in favour of the public
interest.
The area of Kolonos and Metaxourgio lies in the centre Athens and it is a
deprived area consisting mainly of socially vulnerable populations (Greek
Muslims of Turkish origin, Roma of Greek and Albanian origin, homeless
refugees and migrants). Social planning and intervention programmes are not
implemented here and the de-industrialization processes in the last two decades
has resulted in a rapid change of use in the area which consequently “pushed”
certain social groups to the outskirts of the city or elsewhere.
Approximately five hundred Greek Muslim and Roma families moved into the
area from the Thrace region in Northern Greece in the beginning of the 1980s in
a third wave of instigated migration away from the borders and towards the
capital, responding to a State initiated Integration Programme which never took
place. The group follows semi-nomadic patterns, related as being seen as the
‘enemy’ by Christians, constantly moving between Thrace, Athens and the Greek
Islands, where they are occupied professionally during the summer period.
This group is characterised by very poor educational and social standards:
almost every adult is analphabetic and the (official) rate of unemployment
reaches 100%. Early marriages and a high number of children per family
contribute to the poor financial profile of the group; family income is very much
based on their children who sell small things in the streets as the occupational
potential of adults is very limited. Apart from that, family income is also based on
State allowances, usually directly related to the number of children and children’s
school attendance. There are many indications of extended drug and alcohol
abuse, domestic violence and so on.
As most of adults and especially the parents lack any kind of school experience,
the necessity of schooling is far from obvious for the population, taking also into
18account the very limited (material and human) resources as well as the
“necessity” for children to sell things (many households meet their needs through
the labour offered by the younger members of the family, such as selling flowers,
handkerchiefs, washing car windows and so on). It becomes obvious why a great
number of children never attend school, whereas others fail to maintain stable
and successful attendance. Furthermore, adults as well as children do not have
any success stories related with education in their environment, so they cannot
imagine what education would offer them.
IV.viii Media, including the Internet
Racism online
Another area that is involved in racist opinions and behavior in Greece is the
Internet. Several web pages from fascist and racist groups have appeared during
the last two years that broadly announce their beliefs to a large group of Greek
Internet users. These web pages mainly belong to far right organisations like
“National Front” http://www.symmaxia.gr and “Golden dawn”
http://www.xrushaugh.org and sometimes to normal groups of people who just
state their racist beliefs through the Internet with clubs and forums like
http://clubs.pathfinder.gr/patr_symmaxia. The main problem is that there is no
law that supports the rights of the groups that are being attacked by these web
pages and there is no control by the Ministry of Press. Sometimes the right to
“Freedom of speech” is used as an excuse and people get away with hideous
racist opinions.
Media
It is obvious that the media coverage in Greece has improved. Most journalists
are very careful in covering news about minority groups, there is a lot of reporting
and programmes which refer to the socially excluded groups with sensitivity. The
united efforts of many non-governmental organisations and individuals that deal
with human rights and antiracist issues, as well as awareness-raising by a
number of journalists and media people who have been covering issues
concerning minorities, migrants and refugees without prejudice, has improved the
bad situation that media reporting had in Greece.
On the other hand, one can also characterise the role of the media as negative
because it continues to publicise the nationality of suspects of crimes - continue
to report of unknown perpetrators as foreign without having the decency to
correct the reporting when the real perpetrator is found to be a Greek. Although
there are exceptions, it is unfortunately still quite common for a large part of the
Greek media to manipulate news stories according to non-subjective opinions.
The negative representation and the stereotypes extended to socially excluded
groups lie mostly on the way that they are represented in the private television
19channels. There are numerous cases were ratings are more valuable for
journalists rather than the dignity of humans. Capable but dangerous speakers
on private television channels introduce and make far-right activists acceptable
through inviting them so often to state their opinion. On the other hand, they have
no real representation from socially excluded groups and there is no dialogue.
What is quite positive is the fact that a lot of communities now have more access
to the media. A lot of socially excluded groups have been broadcasting on the
radio over the last year and national radio and television have generally offered
opportunities to migrant communities to become a little more visible. There are a
number of websites such as the one launched by the Greek Forum of Migrants,
www.migrant.gr, which inform the public on issues that concern migrant
communities and web pages from organisations such as Cosmos of Culture,
www.cosmosofculture.org which present the multiculturalism of Greece.
20V. Assessing the response
V.i Anti discrimination
Law 3304/2005 on the “Implementation of the principle of equal treatment
regardless of race or national origin, religion or other beliefs, disability, age or
sexual orientation” strengthens the role of the Greek Ombudsman with new
competencies which are expected to contribute to the more effective pursuit of
his institutional mandate. The small number of complaints investigated by the
Greek Ombudsman as a national equality body, and the fact that this role was
accorded to it quite recently, do not at present allow the drawing of definitive
conclusions. However, we can make some basic observations:
1. The very broad and unclear regulatory content of the EU provisions
incorporated into Greek Law under Law 3304/2005, for example the
meaning of “provision of services”, is very problematic, especially with
regard to the public sector and to actions of State institution, which belong
first of all to the core of public action.
2. The national legislator just transferred the EU regulations themselves and
the impression is, at least in some cases, that the national legislator
deviates to some degree from the EU regulations.
3. Citizens who are vulnerable to discrimination don not have access to
specific legal information. On the other hand, the low participation of
minorities as staff in the public sector may explain the reduced flow of
serious complaints. There is ignorance, fear of social exposure or other
unofficial sanctions or pressure, which not allow many individuals to reach
the Greek Ombudsman or other public organs.
The Greek Ombudsman made special reference to Greek Roma, who continue
to experience various types of exclusion in social, economic and political life.
They are victims of unacceptable discriminatory treatment and as the Greek
Ombudsman reports: “The persistent practices of social exclusion of Greek
Roma rest in the structural characteristics of Greek society such as the non-
transparent organisation of the employment market, the anarchic residential
structure and the clientelistic nature of political life, particularly at local level”.
NGOs do not have a clear image of the implementation of this Law for 2006.
NGOs believe that the transposition of the anti-discrimination directives
implemented in the Greek Law will extend the protection of equal treatment in
relation to access to services and goods on the basis not only of racial or ethnic
origin but also on the basis on religious beliefs, disability, sexual orientation and
age. The division of tasks preserving the equal treatment principle between
different public and independent agencies rather than assigning them a more
active role in defending discrimination victims, especially before their cases reach
the courts, has drawn much criticism.
21V.ii Racist violence and racist crime
As we have already mentioned regarding Criminal Law, there are no particular
provisions for such matters although there is Law 927/1979 as amended by Law
N.1419/1984, Law 29102001 and the above-mentioned Law 3386/2005, entitled
“On punishment of acts or activities aiming at racial discrimination”.
Data collection and statistics
Racist or discrimination cases are not recorded by a special office in Greece. In
spite of that there are several official sources that give a picture of the problems.
The Ministry for Justice is responsible for providing information on the definition
and monitoring of racist crime and the maintenance and publishing of relevant
statistics. The Attorney General’s Office provides information on prosecutions
and court decisions regarding racist crime.
The Greek Ombudsman is to mediate between the public administration and
private individuals to protect citizens’ rights and combat maladministration. The
Ombudsman (the Human Rights Department) accepts complains from anyone
and most of the cases refer mostly to migrant and Roma discrimination by public
authorities.
It is also very useful to pay attention to the statistics, which on a first sight they do
not seem to be directly relevant to discrimination. For example, how many
asylum applications exist and how many of them have been accepted. When you
see this data there is no need to be an expert to see that Greece accepted less
than 1% of applications. The conclusion then is that the Greek government is
suspicious of applicants and believes that almost no refugee has the right to
apply for political asylum.
On the other hand, it is very difficult for Greek Non-governmental Organizations
to collect data because most of them do not have financial resources to do so.
Nevertheless, they do make efforts to record at least the most serious cases.
Racial discrimination is often difficult to recognize and can be hidden. Statistics
and polls give a strong picture of how Greek citizens see and feel about
immigrants, Roma and other minority groups.
V.iii Counter-terrorism and protection of human rights
Since the advent of September 11th, the Madrid bombings and then the London
bombing, a war has been waged in the name of counter-terrorism. The
governments of the above countries have rashly passed some laws that violate
the basic human rights of suspected persons in the name of security concerns.
22Even though Greece has never experienced those kinds of terrorist bombings, it
has had its share of domestic terrorist activities in the past that actually made
Greeks afraid despite the good relation Greece enjoys from the Muslim world,
and shows a lot of concern when it comes to terrorism. The state takes
advantage of public security concern to apply different kinds of methods widely
seen as discriminatory and in violation of basic human rights.
Muslim communities in Greece were put under the microscope of the security
network, openly surrounding their areas of worship (mosques) and confronting
them for papers checks during and after prayers. Those Muslim migrants who
were unfortunate enough not to be carrying their legal documents during those
periods were bungled into police vans and driven away for further checks. The
public humiliation, followed by detentions and possible police brutality, drove a
large number of Muslims away from their places of worship (mosques) especially
during Friday prayer.
Taking this into account, one can say that the end results of these kinds of
counter-terrorism measures is stopping some religious groups from carrying out
their religious duties and above all they are being discriminated against simply for
having the same belief than some other people who are suspected of terrorist
activities.
V.iv Integration and social inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities
For the first time a debate about the political rights of immigrants was initiated in
2005 and parliamentary parties, except for the conservative party Nea Dimokratia
(New Democracy) in government, proposed full political rights for long term
residents. But all the parties agreed for migrants to have the right to vote in
district councils.
Furthermore, on 25 March 2005, the President of the Hellenic Republic during his
presidential speech to the nation said that integration of immigrants was one of
the future challenges for Greek Democracy: “the protection of human rights and
personal freedoms without discrimination and the smooth integration of
immigrants are serious challenges for modern Greece”.
An example of good practice, for the first time a Greek party, socialist PASOK,
invited migrants to participate in political procedures during a recent congress
where a number of migrants were elected members of the party organs.
The dramatic developments in France have caused a lot of concern in Greece
also. One of the most common questions is how close the connection is between
what sparked rage in French cities and what is happening in migrant
communities in Greece.
23Parliamentary parties and the Central Union of Municipalities and Communities
of Greece supported the idea of providing the right to vote for local elections to
immigrants. The Minister for the Interior representing the government announced
the intention to apply such measures for long-term residents but not before the
2010 elections.
In October 2005, the Greek Ombudsman published a special Report on police
detention and expulsion of third country national minors, mostly unaccompanied.
The Ombudsman proposed the abolition of police detention as a restrictive
measure for those people violating migration law and described expulsion as a
disproportionate measure and inadequate means for repatriation.
24VI. Conclusion
Through the Greek Law 3304/2005 on the “Implementation of the principle of
equal treatment regardless of race or national origin, religion or other beliefs,
disability, age or sexual orientation”, the Directives 2000/43EC and 2000/78EC
are finally incorporated into national legal order and this seems to be a serious
effort to combat discrimination in the fields of employment and occupation.
According article 13 paragraph 3, which refers that “legal entities which have a
legitimate interest in ensuring that the principle of equal treatment is applied
regardless of racial or ethnic origin, religious or other beliefs, disability, age or
sexual orientation can represent the person wronged before any court and any
administrative authority with the written consent of the person wronged” NGOs
for the first time act on behalf of and in support of victims before the court and
administrative bodies.
Of course, Non Governmental Organisations have still a long way ahead. One
thing that is really positive is the fact that migrant communities and others are
organizing themselves into associations to claim their rights. On the other hand
however, antiracist organisations that have no funding and are unpopular
because of the aim they support are called not only to support and help the
victims of racism but also fight to remain alive with the support of volunteer
members. Unfortunately as time goes by, these problems are accentuated rather
than solved.
For the first time parliamentary parties and the Central Union of Municipalities
and Communities of Greece supported the idea of providing the right to vote for
local elections to long-term immigrants. It is very important that the Minister for
the Interior representing the government announced the intention to apply such
measures for long-term residents.
25VII. Bibliography
1. Nasos Theodoridis – Antigone (NFP), Critical Comments for Anti-
discrimination Directives transposition (06.02.2005) PUBGR0955.
2. Lena Divani – National Commission for Human Rights “The State of Roma
in Greece (2005) www.nchr.gr
3. Greek Ombudsman report , “The Greek Ombudsman’s first year as a
specialised body for the promotion of the principle of equal treatment
(2005) www.synigoros.gr
WEBSITES:
1. Antigone - Information and Documentation Centre on Racism, ecology,
peace and non violence, www.antigone.gr
2. Greek Forum of Migrants www.migrant.gr
3. Amnesty International www.amnesty.org
4. ARSIS – NGO for Youth Support www.arsis.gr
5. SOS Racism – Greece www.cosmosofculture.org/sosracism
6. Ministry of Justice www.ministryofjustice.gr
7. Greek Parliament www.parliament.gr
26ANNEX: Overall Assessment of Directive 2000/43/EC
Θ Not yet implemented
○ Partial implementation
● Fully implemented
Article Provision Implementation Comment
Status
2 Concepts
Direct discrimination Θ
Indirect discrimination Θ
Harassment ○
Instruction to discrimination ●
3 Scope
Employment ○
Vocational training Θ
Working conditions Θ
Membership of organisations Θ
Social protection ○
Social advantages Θ
Education Θ
Goods and Services ○
4 Exceptions for genuine and No
determining occupation requirements
5 Government led positive action No
measures
6 Anti-discrimination goes beyond the No
provision of the Directive
7 Remedies available Θ
NGO participation in complaints Θ
procedures
8 Application of the shift in the burden of Θ
proof
9 Victimisation Θ
10 Government dissemination of Θ
information
11 Social dialogue on anti-discrimination ○
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