Greece urged to stop mass round-up of ‘illegal immigrants’

Aug 8, 2012

Ironically named after the God of hospitality, Greek police Operation Zeus Xenios, seems very much the opposite. Here in Athens being dark-skinned is attracting the police more so now than ever before, as officers have been given a mandate to stop and take those they suspect to be illegal immigrants in for questioning. Around 6,000 people were detained last weekend, 1,500 of those who didn’t have formal papers were arrested. Greek police are all set for a large-scale drive to deport them back to the Asian and African countries they originally came from.

These daily sweeps have provoked the organisation Human Rights Watch to speak out. It has urged the country’s authorities to stop the practice, saying that the actions – based on ‘little more than people’s physical appearance’ — ‘violate international standards’. The organisation says people must not be sent back to a country they fled because of fear of torture or persecution.

The visible foreigners are scapegoats in a country that’s seeing its worst economic times since World War 2. Seeking a new life in the country, left with little choice but to live in sometimes squalid conditions. Being accused of being criminals and a drain on the state. Those sentiments have seeped into the psyche of the Greek people and translated into parliamentary seats for far-right political parties, like Golden Dawn for the first time ever. Whether or not the police or the government bow to human rights pressure over the rounding up of suspected immigrants remains to be seen. But for now there’s doesn’t seem to be any stopping them.

Torture lawsuits

Posted on 22/07/2013 by icantrelaxingreece

‘Not a single person has filed a lawsuit against the police’ the minister claimed from London with regards to the ‘swept’ migrants of operation ‘Xenios Zeus’. However, two of them who had been transferred from detention in Amygdaleza to the airport for deportation filed yesterday a ‘heroic’ lawsuit via their lawyers.

These people, who have names and families, ventured to denounce theirtorturers. Greek policemen, who are certain to face some internal investigation for the ‘eyes’ of the people, reached the point, besides fierce beatings, of delivering electro-shock torture on inmates’ genitals, and of abusing them on the basis of their religion, their country of origin, while one of them demanded from them oral sex. Racist, intolerant and sexist ‘excesses of duty’ in a police force which has nothing to do, according always to the minister, with the methods known from the nazi monstrosities.

The lawsuit may some day go to court with or without the witnesses. This is precisely what was anticipated for these cases by the anti racist law: the protection of victims-witnesses who are now left unprotected by the Hellenic democracy of certain sheriffs who violate the Constitution and the laws.

Article translated from ‘Efimerida ton Sintakton’ newspaper, 11 July 2013. Available online at: http://www.efsyn.gr/?p=72271.

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• Xenios Zeus Fills Detention Centers (greece.greekreporter.com)
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• ‘All blacks out!’: Human Rights Watch condemns ‘racist’ Greek police (rt.com)