GHM REPORT TO ERRC NO 56: 22/4/1999

MARCH 1999 ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE GHM ROMA OFFICE

March 11: Representatives of the GHM and the Drom Network for Roma Social Rights visited the Roma camp of Nea Zoi in the Aspropyrgos municipality. A few days after the violent operation against them (see February 1999 Activity Report of the GHM Roma Office), the Roma were trying to get back to their normal everyday routine. The five families whose shacks were destroyed and burnt to the ground by public authorities during the operation had already constructed new shacks. Most of the Roma were absent from the camp, making their living through selling old objects. Those present expressed their relief with the fact that the municipality did not succeed in ousting them and that the case had been brought up to the public prosecutor. They also expressed their fear that such a violent operation may happen again and asked for a permanent solution to their housing problems. We then visited the nearby 4th Elementary School of Nea Zoi and had a discussion with its headmistress, Ms. Matina Vavouli. Some 30 Roma pupils attend the regular classes at the school, as well as the preparatory lessons designed especially for Roma to catch up with the rest of the pupils. The number of Roma pupils has increased in the last years, as the open-minded and very active team of teachers gained the respect and recognition of the Roma, most of whom are illiterate. Most students attend the lessons on a regular basis, although there is also a significant number who come and go whenever they please. The co-existence between Roma and non-Roma students is very good, and one can see them playing together joyfully during the breaks. Still there are occasional cases of discrimination and the teachers try to deal with them promptly. It should be mentioned that one of the reasons that the Roma provided for not wanting to leave the region is the school itself, and one could justifiably claim that the school is one of the main factors for the coherence of the camp.

Our last stop was the Roma camp, which is adjacent to the dusting rump of Nea Liosia (very close to the borders of the Aspropyrgos municipality). The settlement was in a worse shape than it had been during our last visit in January this year (see January 1999 Activity Report of the GHM Roma Office). More families have been added to the already overcrowded and relatively small camp and the place is in a complete chaos now. There is dust and garbage everywhere; pieces of wood with rusty nails are left on the ground, where barefoot children run and play. Of course there is no water, electricity, drainage or garbage collection. We asked to talk to the person responsible for the settlement and we were taken to a middle aged man who had the air of authority. It should be noted that there are disputes between the Roma families in the settlement and some Roma are unwanted by others. We had a long conversation with the man presented as the person responsible for the camp. He expressed the anger and the disappointment of the Roma with the unacceptable state of the place as well as their strong wish to ameliorate their living conditions. It should be mentioned that the Roma attribute a great deal of power to the mass media, so we were asked to help them access the TV channels, because they believe that would provide a solution to their problems at once. We emphasized the necessity for Roma to organize themselves in a structured community, to discuss their problems and to elect representatives. We also discussed the idea of creating a self-managed settlement with certain prerequisites following the example of the settlement, which is being constructed at the former military barracks of Gonou in Thessaloniki.

March 12: In the morning, representatives of the GHM and the Drom Network for Roma Social Rights had a meeting with the Doctors of the World. The organization has a very active presence in Roma settlements around Athens and Thessaloniki, providing Roma with medical treatment. Due to the very bad sanitary conditions at the settlements, Roma settlers tend to fall sick very often. The most serious diseases found in the camp are hepatitis A, B and C, measles, mumps, rubella, etc. We discussed the housing problem of the Roma living within the prefecture of Attica. We came to an agreement that our organizations will cooperate closely in the future in trying to find a suitable place for the Roma of West Attica, where a self-managed settlement with the necessary conditions could be constructed.

In the afternoon, we had a meeting with Progressive Left Coalition MP, Ms. Stella Alfieri, and with other representatives of the party. We brought to the table our experiences from different Roma settlements throughout Greece, and discussed ways for dealing with the housing problems of the nomad Roma (which is at the basis of their other problems) at an institutional level. We discussed the idea of proposing to the government to pass a bill, which would require from the prefectures throughout the country -wherever there are Roma settlements- to construct proper settlements with a number of conditions (enough space for each family, easy connection with the rest of the city, water supply, electricity, drainage, garbage collection, medical treatment, public transportation, church, public common place for cultural and sport activities, incorporation to the educational system, job training etc). The settlement is to be ruled by a council consisted of elected representatives of the Roma, representatives of the Prefecture, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations. The construction of such a settlement at the former military barracks of Gonou for the Gallikos River Roma could serve as a model for our proposition.

March 18: We received information that the 600 Roma of Nea Alikarnassos on the island of Crete are being forced out of their settlement. The municipality of Nea Alikarnassos started the procedure for administrative eviction against the Roma. We contacted local NGOs as well as local authorities and discussed ways of solving the problem. The NGO Group against Racism & Xenophobia issued an alert and detailed description of the situation (see below).

March 29: Progressive Left Coalition MP, Ms. Stella Alfieri, visited Nea Zoi in the Municipality of Aspropyrgos and met the Mayor, Mr. Antonis Liakos. Mr. Liakos asked Ms. Alfieri to withdraw her signature from the charges brought to the Public Prosecution for the violent operation against Roma made by municipal and police authorities last February (see February 1999 Activity Report of the GHM Roma Office). Ms. Alfieri insisted on condemning the operation as violent, unacceptable and illegal. She added that her party would support measures for a peaceful and fair solution to the problem, which would also reassure respect for Roma’s human rights. She also promised that she would bring the case to the Parliament and ask for the support of the Government to such positive steps made by the Municipality of Aspropyrgos.

THE GROUP FOR INITIATIVE AGAINST RACISM & XENOPHOBIA OF HERAKLION

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS!

Background Information

New Alikarnassos is a small municipality adjoining the larger municipality of Heraklion. It is notorious for its prison, which is almost in the midst of the community.

Alikarnassos is suffocating in an area between the port, the airport and the industrial zone of Heraklion. Apart from the major problems, resulting from this situation, the Roma campgrounds are within its administrative borders. This is considered to be yet another problem. The camp is situated between the highway and the industrial zone, about 500 meters away from the last house of the municipality. It is a shanty site with no water supply, electricity, sewage system or organized garbage collection! Rubble and rubbish are deposited illegally and uncontrollably by individuals. About 500 persons live in this nightmare location.

This site was formed about 15 years ago by a decision of the prefecture and with the tolerance of the current municipal authority. The Prefecture wished to collect all the scattered camps into a large one. It never provided the new site with the basic necessities for human existence.

The municipality of Alikarnassos considers the site illegal and subjected to relocation. The authorities are doing their best to drive the Roma away. They refuse to have Roma registered in the municipal lists even though most of them live there permanently and 200 children were born there. The children used to be unable to attend a local school because the camp was not within the enrollment boundaries of any school. Four years ago due to the actions of the prefecture a school for Roma children was founded, away from the municipality of Alikarnassos, as part of 34th Elementary School of Heraklion. Older children who are past school age, and who are illiterate, attend the school. Last year some children who had attended this school started going to regular schools in the municipality but most of them dropped out soon. No child of the camp has graduated from elementary school.

Two years ago the municipality of Menemeni took the initiative to create a multi-municipal project for «marginal» population groups. Its purpose was to take advantage of certain EEC programs (e.g. HORIZON) to aid the Roma by providing the camps with the necessary means for a decent living. Only two, out of fifty, municipalities with registered Roma campgrounds have refused to take advantage of this program. The municipality of Alikarnasssos was one of them. The excuse furnished was that the site was under relocation!

Despite all the actions by the Prefecture, no relocation area has been found because no municipality wishes the campgrounds to be in its district.

The appointed prefectural committee (Art. 2 of the Sanitation Mandate no. A5/696/25-4-83 ÖÅÊ 243B/83) was unable to propose a relocation site that was acceptable by the local community. Then a final effort was made for the transfer of the site to an abandoned military camp in the area of Karteros. This site was also proposed by the Prefecture. The previous city council of N. Alikarnassos rejected this solution, too, even though the mayor of Alikarnassos had initially accepted it. The explanation given was that the military camp was within the borders of the municipality! The council decided to officially evict the Roma settlers as expropriators of municipal property, remaining indifferent to where they go to because nobody accepts them.

In this way the problem remains unsolved. The municipality of Alikarnassos bears the biggest part of the responsibility as it does not accept any possible area of settlement within its administrative borders. Thus it makes every effort for finding a relocation area impossible. The municipality presents the camp as an insurmountable problem to which it has no intention to provide a solution. It seems to be willing to transfer the responsibility to a different municipality. On the other hand, the Roma -through their organization HOPE- request the improvement of their living conditions either in their present campgrounds or through a relocation to another one.

Lately, the problem has become more acute. Mr. Paterakis, the mayor of Alikarnassos, has decided to put to effect the decision (no. 329/97) of the city council of Alikarnassos for the eviction of all Roma. On March 13, 1999, 102 gypsy families were served with a protocol of administrative eviction. The activation of the decision of the city council after two years coincides with the revision of the General City Plan of the wider area and with the efforts to develop the district where the site is. A sports center and areas of recreation are proposed to be built. Already people from the private sector have purchased 50 acres from ÅÔÂÁ (owner of the industrial zone) and, according to unconfirmed information, they are going to build a shopping center there.

The decision to drive the Roma away in thirty days without providing them with a relocation area is a major social, moral and legal issue of brutal violation of human rights.

We appeal to the organizations of social awareness and the media to help this cause with their letters, articles, performances and any other means possible.

THE GROUP FOR INITIATIVE AGAINST RACISM & XENOPHOBIA OF HERAKLION

Please send your appeals to the following:

1)Mr. Vasilis Valasopoulos
Regional Secretary General of Crete
Koundourioti Ave. 712 02
Heraklion, Crete, GREECE
FAX 081-222506

2) Mr. John Garefalakis
Prefect of Crete
Eleftherias Ave. 712 01
Heraklion, Crete, GREECE
FAX 081-342587

3) Mr. John Paterakis
Mayor of N. Alikarnassos
13 Dionysiou St. 714 08
N. Alikarnassos, Crete, GREECE
FAX 081-241022

Send copies to:

1) Newspaper «PATRIS»
2 Thesalonikis St. 712 01
Heraklion, Crete, GREECE
FAX 081-258161

2) Newspaper «Mesogios»
20 Handakos St. 712 02
Heraklion, Crete, GREECE
FAX 081-282138

3) Newspaper «Allagi»
17 Arkoleondos St. 712 02
Heraklion, Crete, GREECE
FAX 081-243370

4) Newspaper «Tolmi»
51 Dikeosinis St. 712 02
Heraklion, Crete, GREECE
FAX 081-221332

For more information:

1) Leonidas G. Dranakis
Group against Racism & Xenophobia
83-85 Evans St., 712 01
Heraklion, Crete, GREECE
FAX 081-282222, e-mail: ldran@tee.gr 

2)Hercules Kalamiotis
President of the Gypsy cultural organization «HOPE»
Gypsy encampment of N. Alikarnassos,
2 Aorakia 715 00 N. Alikarnassos,
Crete, GREECE

3)Symeon Serafimopoulos
Vice-President of the Gypsy cultural organization «HOPE»
Gypsy encampment of N. Alikarnassos,
2 Aorakia 715 00 N. Alikarnassos,
Crete, GREECE