Greek crackdown on illegal immigrants leads to mass arrests

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

Greek authorities have launched one of the country's biggest ever crackdowns on suspected illegal immigrants, deploying 4,500 policemen around Athens and detaining more than 7,000 immigrants in less than 72 hours.

Most have been released, but about 2,000, mostly Africans and Asians, have been arrested. They were then sent to holding centres pending deportation in an operation that officials, bizarrely, have elected to call Xenios Zeus after the Greek god of hospitality. On Sunday, 88 undocumented Pakistanis were put on planes accompanied by guards back to their home country.

"We will not allow our towns, or our country, to be occupied and become migrant ghettoes," said Athens' hardline public order minister Nikos Dendias, as authorities discussed plans to build eight new detention centres, capable of holding up to 10,000 immigrants, in the capital.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/07/greece-crackdown-illegal-immigrants-arrest

[AnotherMcIntosh]

1. Good for them.

[agent zero]

7. Yes. I think the Greeks have the right idea for how to handle illegal immigration.

[pampango]

11. Amnesty International: Greece must halt mass police crackdown on 'irregular migrants'

The Greek authorities must halt a mass police crackdown on "irregular migrants" and allow for effective access to asylum-seeking procedures to those in need of international protection Amnesty International said today following reports that more than 7,500 foreign nationals have been arrested in Athens since last Thursday.

A large number of those arrested were reported to be of Asian, African and North African origin. Many have since been released because they were found to be legally residing in Greece.

"While Greece has the right to control migration, it does not have the right to treat people in the street like criminals purely because of the colour of their skin," said Jezerca Tigani, Deputy Director of the Europe and Central Asia Programme. "The scale of the police operation in Athens at the weekend raises serious concerns about discrimination on the basis of perceived ethnicity."

According to Greek police, around 2,000 of those rounded up were found with no papers and were placed in administrative detention. According to reports some people were transferred to police stations despite showing police papers proving their legal residence in Greece.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/greece-must-halt-mass-police-crackdown-on-irregular-migrants-2012-08-08

Few would argue that Greece has the right to arrest and deport illegal immigrants. But it is not acceptable to arrest more than 7,500 people based on "the colour of their skin" then realize that 3/4 of them are legal residents of Greece. Mass police crackdowns that result in the arrest of thousands of people of color because 'they must be illegal immigrants' (when in fact 3/4 of them are not) is not an acceptable way to enforce immigration laws.

[agent zero]

12. Good job Greece!!

They don't want to be overrun. I totally get it. Greek jobs for Greek workers first.

[pampango]

2. "Anti-fascist groups said the government however, is trying to exploit anti-immigrant feeling."

A fifth straight year of recession and unemployment at a record high has helped to fuel anti-immigrant sentiment in Greece. Among their litany of perceived offences, migrants have been blamed for the rise in crime levels and for “stealing” jobs.

Anti-fascist groups said the government however, is trying to exploit anti-immigrant feeling. Tassos Anastasiades from the anti-fascist movement KEERFA said: “They (the government) are trying now to play the racist card. So that people will be distracted from what is really happening in their pockets and in their everyday life and try to blame immigrants for all the things that are going wrong in Greece.”

This would explain how neo-Nazi political party ‘Golden Dawn’ (with their slogan ‘Greece for the Greeks’) became the first far-right group to enter parliament in the country’s history. Last week it was reported the party gave out free food, but only to people who could prove they were Greek citizens.

Attacks on immigrants have become more frequent since 2011, a fact which has worried the UN’s refugee agency. The UNHCR’s denounced the rise of racist violence in the country but so far, critics say little has been done by the government to tackle the issue.

http://www.euronews.com/2012/08/07/greece-illegal-immigrants-face-deportation/

The economy goes bad and guess who gets blamed. Not the rich and elite of a country but workers who come from a 'them' group.

[dipsydoodle]

5. "critics say little has been done by the government to tackle the issue"

They're deporting them and that way they can't be attacked again.

[agent zero]

8. Yes exactly.

[dipsydoodle]

3. "On Sunday, 88 undocumented Pakistanis ......"

Today is Tuesday.

[emilyg]

4. Good.

[agent zero]

6. I totally agree.

What do they expect when they go there illegally?

[nanabugg]

9. Most went there on legal temporary immigration docs to supply cheap labor.

Now that the Greek economy is in the shitter because their uber wealthy and corporate banksters refused to pay taxes and the Greek government refused to enforce its own tax laws, they are blaming all their woes on immigrants, many of whom are there illegally because their visa expired or because they were hard workers and decided to stay there where they had put down some roots. Same thing happening here in the USA only the expired visa holders from EU or the Balkans or Asia are not even talked about...only the Mexicans and Latinos.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

10. "blaming all their woes on ..."? Really? None of them are blaming any banksters?

None are blaming any of the super-rich?

Somehow that doesn't seem credible.