Today, about 30 people gathered in front of the Greek consulate in Munich to
express their solidarity with the 300 hunger strikers in Greece We stayed there for an hour, held speeches, shouted slogans and handed over a
statement to the consulate, which they promised to forward to the ministries
of citizen protection and interior
Text of the statement:
We are writing to you on the occasion of the hunger strike of 300 migrants
which is currently taking place in Athens and Thessaloníki. We have closely
followed the situation of refugees and migrants in Greece over the last
years. We are not surprised that – again – migrants feel compelled to choose
such a strong measure to campaign for their rights: putting their lives at
risk. We express our solidarity with their cause.
With this letter, we want to urge you to fulfill the demands of the hunger
striking migrants, i.e. the unconditional legalisation of all migrants in
Greece. In our understanding, this constitutes the only permanent and viable
solution to the despicable situation of refugees and migrants in Greece, a
political issue various Greek governments have struggled with
unsuccessfully.
We understand that the current Greek government is lobbying on the European
level to get central political mechanisms which have contributed to the
current situation removed. The reform of Dublin II and a general overhaul of
the European migration and asylum system need to be mentioned here. From our
perspective notwithstanding, the Greek government is pursuing this political
strategy on the backs of the migrants. Since last August, we observe an
increased practise of detention, even though the conditions in
administrative detention are in clear violation of various human rights.
This has been documented time and again not only by NGOs, but lately also by
the European Court of Human Rights in the case MSS vs. Belgium/Greece. At
the same time, the situation of migrants in Athens is becoming harder to
bear, with increased repression from the police and a rise in fascist,
xenophobic violence that seems to go largely unstopped. The latest political
developments in Greece, such as the passing of the new Asylum bill as well
as the extension of the RABIT deployment by the European border agency
Frontex show that the Greek government has opted for a policy of repression
that is not suitable to help either the migrants nor the Greek state.
We believe that by following the migrants’ demands, the Greek government can
send powerful political signals. A legalisation would be the strongest
communication to the other EU member states that the current system of
delegating responsibility to the fringes of Europe cannot continue and needs
a courageous solution. A legalisation would also finally end the years of
uncertainty migrants have been facing in Greece and attribute them their
rights as part of the society that they have long earned by their labour in
the Greek economy and the life they have led in Greece. A legalisation would
also send a clear political message that it is necessary to deal with the
new and (be)coming citizens in a fair, respectful and dignified way and that
xenophobia and racism are damnable attitudes that better belong to the past.
The European answer of bordering and exclusion has no future, it only
creates pain and violations of rights.
http://carava.net/2011/02/10/solidarity-action-greek-consulate-munich/><http://carava.net/2011/02/04/kundgebung-hungerstreik-griechenland/
