Greece austerity has spawned alleged waves of racist attacks , cloaked in the veneer of anti-immigrant policies and protests.... police missing in action as the attacks go on

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_25/08/2012_458259

Migrants to wait longer for citizenship Interior Ministry officials are next month expected to submit to Parliament a revised version of a controversial citizenship law for migrants, passed two years ago by the then socialist government, making naturalization harder for immigrants to attain. According to sources, the goal of the revision is to bring policy into line with laws in other southern European countries that also have growing immigrant populations. The original 2010 law allows second-generation immigrants whose parents have been living in Greece legally for at least five years to apply for citizenship. According to the proposed revision, this period of time would be extended to eight or 10 years. Another reform in the works would grant citizenship to immigrants who have graduated from a Greek secondary school and secured a place at a state university or college. “When a young person has demonstrated an interest in our language, culture and in Greek education, we are obliged to acknowledge this,” Alternate Interior Minister Haralambos Athanassiou told Kathimerini. On the other hand, the number of years that second-generation immigrants must study at a Greek school to secure citizenship will increase to nine years, from the current six, according to the revised law. Also, migrants aged over 18 residing legally in Greece will have to wait 10 years before acquiring citizenship compared to the current seven years. According to ministry statistics, 54,968 immigrants were granted citizenship between 2000 and 2011. But the majority -- 43,060 -- were ethnic Greeks from Albania. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has called several times for the repeal of the 2010 citizenship law, calling it a magnet for undocumented migrants.

http://rt.com/news/immigrant-rally-athens-violence-532/

Migrants protest Greek wave of racist attacks (PHOTOS)

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Published: 25 August, 2012, 12:37

Thousands of immigrants to Greece, mainly from Pakistan gather at Athens central Syntagma square in front of the Greek Parliament on August 24, 2012, during their protest rally against the recent violent attacks on immigrants by ultra nationalist groups and the police operations in order to arrest undocumented immigrants. (AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki)

TAGS: Conflict, Protest, Human rights,Immigration, Greece

Over 3,000 immigrants flocked to the center of Athens to protest the wave of xenophobic attacks sweeping Greece. Racist violence has seen a marked increase in the wake of the financial crisis, with NGOs condemning police indifference to the attacks.

Thousands of protesters marched on the Greek parliament in Athens in one of the largest anti-racist rallies the capital has ever seen. They carried banners emblazoned with the slogans "No Islamophobia" and "Neo Nazis out!"

Some protesters brandished banners implicating Greek far-right party Golden Dawn, which has been accused of inciting xenophobia and racial violence.

Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris attacked the Greek government for allowing the rally to take place.

“The constitution protects gatherings of Greeks and not of foreigners,” he said in a statement.

The protests follow a countrywide police crackdown on illegal immigration in Greece. The Greek government provoked immigrant ire after rounding up hundreds of undocumented immigrants in the town of Corinth and holding them in a nearby military camp. The move sparked protests from residents and local authorities, rallying against the creation of a detention center in the town.

"We will do everything possible to prevent such a disaster," Corinth's mayor Alexandros Pnevmatikos told Skai TV. "We don't want the camp, which is in the center of the city close to densely-populated neighborhoods, to become a holding center."

Pnevmatikos threatened to cut the camp’s water supply and rubbish disposal if the 350 migrants held there were not released.

Far right supporters of Golden Dawn clashed with police outside the army camp on Thursday and hurled bottles at a deputy who had come to visit the camp.

The nationwide campaign to curtail illegal immigration has been dubbed "Xenios Zeus" after the ancient Greek god of guests and travelers. The Greek authorities have thus far arrested thousands of illegal immigrants.

Police turn blind eye to racial violence

Greece’s minister for public order announced on Thursday that a special unit would be created within the Greek police to combat the “phenomenon of racist violence.” The move came after several rights groups criticized Greece for its failure to curb the rise in xenophobic attacks.

Human Rights Watch released a report last month condemning Greek police for their failure to act of cases of racial violence.

"Migrants and asylum seekers spoke to Human Rights Watch of virtual no-go areas in Athens after dark because of fear of attacks by often black-clad groups of Greeks intent on violence,” said the report.

The document also implies collusion between Golden Dawn and local police forces in connection with the attacks.

The extremist party denies any connection to the racial attacks sweeping Greece.

Last month Golden Dawn spokesperson Ilias Kasidiaris said that immigration was a government conspiracy to turn Greece into “a wretched protectorate inhabited by subhumans, with no conscience, with no country, with no national culture.”

One of the party’s solutions to immigration is to mine areas along the Greek border where high concentrations of immigrants cross into the country.

Golden Dawn currently has 18 seats out of 300 in the Greek parliament and has seen a rise in popularity in the wake of an increase in unemployment and crime levels.

AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki

Police officers stand guard as thousands of immigrants living in Greece, mainly from Pakistan, rally at Athens central Syntagma square on August 24, 2012, to protest against recent racist attacks and police operation to evict undocumented immigrants. (AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki)

AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki

AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki

Reuters/John Kolesidis

and from Occupied London.....

Riot police storm self-organised market building in Kypseli, Athens

Saturday, August 18, 2012

At approximately 07.30 am on Saturday 18.8, riot police entered the building of the ‘municipal market’ of Kypseli, Athens. The building, long-abandoned by the local municipality, had been used as a self-organised space by groups of the antagonist movement for the past six years or so, hosting events, screenings, discussions but also acting as an alternative market. The Athens mayor (Kaminis) order the riot police to storm, retake and shut down the building.

Office of neo-nazi Golden Dawn in Pagrati, central Athens set alight with petrol

Monday, August 13, 2012

The office of the neo-nazi gang Golden Dawn (as of recently also represented in parliament) in the central Athenian neighbourhood of Pagrati was set ablaze on August 13, with two small petrol tanks. The neo-nazi gang is openly advocating violence against all migrants, homosexuals and leftists/anarchists. Its members have participated in scores of such attacks and they are the prime suspects for theassassination of a young Iraqi national in Athens on August 12.

According to the Union of Migrant workers, more than 500 migrants have been hospitalised in recent months after being attacked with clubs and knuckledusters. The perpetrators enjoy some unparalleled immunity; more than 1 in 2 members of the police force voted for Golden Dawn in both recent elections.

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Iraqi migrant assassinated in central Athens in the early hours of Sunday August 12

Sunday, August 12, 2012

At approximately 04.30 am on Sunday August 12, an unidentified Iraqi male was found stabbed in the streets of Athens (on Anaxagora Street). According to eye-witnesses, the perpetrators of the attack where five males riding four motorbikes who, just earlier on, in the same area, had tried to attack another two migrant males (citizens of Romania and Morocco) and who managed to escape. This is an apparent racist, lethal attack.

More info as it comes.

6,400 migrants detained by police in largest ever pogrom operation in the centre of Athens

Sunday, August 5, 2012

In the past few days, police have been conducting their largest ever pogrom operation in the centre of Athens. According to the released information, 1,500 people were detained by police in the first two days of the operation (August 2-3) and another 4,900 in its third day alone (August 4). The operation has been taking place in Athens and in Evros, at the NE border with Turkey. At least 1,630 people have been arrested and are facing deportation.

In an Orwellian twist, the racist pogrom operation has been named “Zeus Xenios” — the ancient god of travelers and hospitality.

The racist operation is continuing for a fourth day today (Sunday, Aug 5). It appears that today’ s operation is centred around Omonoia Square, Monastiraki, Mars’ Fields (Pedion tou Areos) and Vathis Square, all in central Athens. We are getting reports that police stop, search and detain all migrants in their path, regardless of whether or not they carry documents.