1997 ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE GHM ROMA OFFICE
17 February - Visit by GHM members to the offices of
the Citizens Solidarity Organization in Ano Liosia, where the person responsible for the
office, N. Karoutsos, told us about the situation of the Roma. We also met the Roma Nikos
Karayionopoulos, who lives in the settlement in the area. Mr Karayianopoulos said that the
Council cafeteria refuses to serve Roma even if they are dressed respectably, following an
order of the Mayor. The ordinary citizens treat the Roma in the same way too.
22 February - The GHM visited the settlement at Ano Liosia (the
so called "Camping"). Seventy families live here in appalling living conditions,
because the settlement is close to the Attica landfill. The landfill is their main
economic resource for food and clothing. The group has separated into two smaller groups
which are constantly at odds with each other. There are those who think that they are
privileged to be permanent residents there, and the others who are blamed for dealing in
drugs. The two groups do not speak to each other.
27 February - The Eleftherotypia newspaper published an
article by the journalist S. Balaskas about the living conditions of 10 Roma families in
Chios. They have established themselves in the Kofina area, 500 meters away from the
nearest dwelling. This land was given to them by the Archbishop of Chios, Dionyssios,
after the intervention of the Mayor of Chios. A local police officer tries to evict them
by abusing of his power and by pressuring other policemen to raise charges against the
Roma. The policeman shared the opinion of the other citizens that the presence of Roma is
not a positive factor with regard to real estate values in the area. Some of the non-Roma,
who belong to the "Cultural Union of Kofina" asked the Mayor to throw the Roma
out because they live near the slaughterhouses and their presence endangers the lives of
the inhabitants, "otherwise we will answer with active rallies." A policeman
sued four Roma because they did not have permission to build on land owned by the church.
12 March - The GHM sent a letter to the Mayor of Chios asking
him for information about the Roma situation. We also sent a letter to the Minister of
Public Order, Mr Romaios, asking him to look into the matter related to the police chief
of Chios, Moshovos, who is also the general secretary of the "Cultural Union of
Kofina." The latter demands that the Roma be evicted.
14 March - The Mayor sent his reply to the GHM, saying that he
aims at the normal existence of the Roma in his municipality and at their integration into
society.
3 April - S. Balaskas, in another article in Eleftherotypia,
urged the Minister of Public Order, Mr. Romaios, to take measures against the police chief
of Chios, Ioannis Moshovos, for his stance towards the Roma. The GHM, along with other
human rights [Citizens’ Movement Against Racism, Committee Of Roma For Struggle,
Department Of Human Rights Of "Coalition" Party, Minority Rights Group - Greece,
Social Workshop, Solidarity Citizens Of Ano Liosia, SOS Racism] visited the settlement of
Ano Liosia. The visit was provoked by a statement of the Minister of Public Order and the
Municipal Authorities about drug trafficking in the "illegal ghetto," which was
described as inaccessible to the police. This discussion was started by a section of the
press, giving another alibi for the intervention of the Special Forces. These statements
warned in advance about what followed afterwards. We told the inhabitants that our
organizations are opposed to any form of "purge" whatsoever. We also issued a
press release.
9 April - We contacted the office of the Minister of Public
Order asking for information, as we had not yet received a written answer about the Roma
in Chios and about the police chief of Chios, Mr. Moshovos. The person responsible for
such matters said that after a special order, he had begun an in-depth study of the
problem and was still doing so. He said that he would send us a letter by the end of
April. However he never answered us.
11 April - Mr. Papadimas, Mayor of Ano Liosia, demolished the
settlement and threw 100 families out. He achieved that by splitting the Roma up into
locals and non-locals. 25 local families were removed to a neighboring municipal site
where they were given mobile homes and promises that electricity, water etc. would be
provided. The rest of the families were given an ultimatum to leave the place at once.
Whoever was not ready had their huts demolished by the bulldozers. Whoever was absent at
work, returned to find that their homes were raised to the ground.
19 April - The GHM, along with other seven NGOs, visited the
municipal site where the 25 Roma families had been moved to (the residents of Ano Liosia).
The 25 families (124 persons) were surrounded by barbed wire as if this were a
concentration camp or a "ghetto." They were not allowed to leave the place for
three days. A small child who had fallen ill had to be thrown over the wire to be taken to
a doctor. We sent an open letter to the Prime Minister. We never received an answer.
2 May - I accompanied Maria Loutsa (6 years old) from the
settlement of Ano Liosia to the Doctors of the World polyclinic at 15, Michail Voda
Street. The pediatrician diagnosed that she was spastic from birth and recommended that
she be referred to a hospital for physiotherapy.
23 May - We learnt from Mr. Tsiligaridis in Thessaloniki, who is
a member of the Committee Against Racism and Xenophobia, that the Mayor of Evosmos, Mr.
Alexandrakis, was evicting 3,500 Roma who had lived in the settlement for some 25-30
years. The Roma arrived there because they were thrown out of Toumba at a time when the
reconstruction of Thessaloniki was just beginning, and they settled at the rubbish dump.
They make their living from the rubbish, selling scrap iron, aluminum, etc. Now they are
being evicted from Evosmos because of the reconstruction which has been started there.
26 May - The Mayor of Ano Liosia, Papadimas, demolished 10 Roma
shacks, which had been built on the Roma’s own land, under the pretext of illegal
housing. At the same time, he refuses to give them permits to build on their own land,
because he wants to expropriate the land and turn it into green areas.
29 May - Some people from the Municipality of Ano Liosia opened
two mobile homes, while their owners were away at work, threw out their belongings and
sealed the houses, threatening the rest who tried to intervene that they would be thrown
out.
We contacted Mr. Leonidas Drandakis from Crete, who is a member of
Amnesty International. Mr. Drandakis has sued the Mayor of Alikarnassos for violation of
the statutes and for abuse of the Roma. A child caught polio at the settlements because of
the appalling conditions. This child will be an invalid all his life. The doctors
confirmed that the illness is due to the situation in the settlement where enormous rats
run around among the children. Ex officio prosecution was carried out by the district
attorney who criticized the Mayor for endangering public health in the area. After the
summonses, the Mayor was obliged to disinfect the area and provide garbage bins. 500
people live in the settlement.
The Council Authorities of Trikala, in cooperation with the police,
demolished the camping of 25 Roma families in the areas of Agroviz and Pyrgos. The charge
was brought by the Ecological Movement of Trikala. We contacted the representative of the
Movement, Mr. Lepeniotis. We brought charges which were published in the local press. It
is not the first time that Roma have been evicted in Trikala. Fifty families were evicted
7 or 8 years ago.
3 June - I accompanied Vassilis Karahalios (6 years old) from
the Aspropyrgos settlement to the Ag. Kiriakou Hospital for plastic surgery because of
burns (he was burnt when the shack he was living in caught fire). I spoke with the doctors
and the social workers who showed keen interest.
4 June - We called "Doctors of the World" and asked
them to come with us to visit the settlements, examine the children and offer them health
care. They immediately agreed and we arranged the first visit. We gave them the register
of Aspropyrgos and Ano Liosia and they started doing vaccinations.
8 June - A visit to the settlement of Ano Liosia by Vassilis
Sakellariou and Sophia Nikolaidou for Maria Loutsa who should go to PIKPA (children’s
hospital).
9-14 June - A 7-day convention on the subject "Athens is
Multicultural - Meet the Roma" organized by the Pan-Hellenic Union of Roma in Aghia
Varvara, in which the GHM took part. On the first day (9 June), there was a meeting on the
subject "Roma in Greece" where George Markou, a professor at the University of
Athens, made a presentation. On Tuesday (10 June), a football game was organized between a
team of journalists from the National Greek Radio and a Roma team. On Wednesday (11 June),
the discussions were under the topic of "Racism in Greece." The GHM, along with
other NGOs, took part. On Thursday (12 June) there was a photo exhibition on the life of
the Roma and a book exhibition about the Roma. On Friday (13 June) a film was shown, while
on Saturday (14 June) there was a Roma evening with the participation of the Union’s
Byzantine Choir, an Albanian Roma group and local Roma groups from Aghia Varvara, as well
as of Vassilis Paiteris - a well-known Roma singer.
10 June - The first instance court in Thessaloniki decided to
remove the Roma of Evosmos from the area in which they live. The application for safety
measures had been made by the Mayor of Evosmos, Mr. Alexandrakis, and by some private
citizens against 91 Roma families. It says that the land was needed for green areas and
playgrounds. In the case that the Roma refuse to leave, they will be fined Drs 500,000
each.
I visited Vassilis Karhalios at the Ag. Kiriakou hospital. The
operation had gone well. I spoke to the doctor and the hospital’s social worker.
I took Maria Loutsa and her grandmother to the surgery of the PIKPA
hospital. The young girl had to be seen by a committee of doctors so that she can be
admitted for treatment to PIKPA in Voula as a patient. The examination did not take place
because the signature of the girl’s mother was needed.
11 June - The first meeting with the Post Office Savings Bank
took place. It dealt with the case of the Roma Yannis Panayiotopoulos who wants to
withdraw Drs 250,000 which is in the name of his wife, Penelope. The latter had been
buried under a garbage heap at Ano Liosia. Because she has not been found yet, a death
certificate was never issued (she is assumed to be missing), and her husband was not able
to get the money. We spoke with Associate Judge Mr. Kissoudis and with Ms Kovaiou. They
looked at the situation with sympathy and shared our views. We presented documents about
the family situation, a document from the parish priest that a memorial service had taken
place, a copy of the summons which was served at the Menidi Police Station on the day of
Penelope’s disappearance. After a month Mr. Panayiotopoulos was told that he would be
able to withdraw the money. Mr. Theodoropoulos, Director of Menidi Security, the police
station at Aitoliko (where one of Panayiotopoulos’ daughters lives) and Mr. Chrysafis, a
non-Roma who lives at the Aspropyrgos settlement, helped in the matter. All this required
many visits to the settlement, to the Savings Bank, and many phone calls.
We contacted Ms Nitsa Mazaraki of the Prefectural Council for First
Degree Education (NELE) about the Evosmos settlement. A meeting took place in the presence
of the Minister for Macedonia-Thrace, Mr. Petsalnikos, the Prefect, Mr. Papadopoulos,
representatives of the local self-government, the Minister of Health and Welfare, the
President of the Roma, Mr. Georgiadis, representatives of the citizens and people from the
Prime Minister’s office, Mr Angelides. The Prefect promised to find a site for the Roma
by the end of July. In the discussion, the presidents of the communities were unrelenting
about accepting Roma in their areas.
17 June - An NGO meeting on the setting up of an Initiative
Council for Support of the Roma took place in Thessaloniki. The GHM declared its
involvement in it. The Council issued a short announcement which was read at the meeting.
24 June - We read in a newspapers about the Roma of Yiannouli
(near Larisa) and their exclusion from the village market. In the past 30 years the latter
have been organized jointly by the Roma and the Town Council. The incidents began when the
Roma football team beat the local village team. The losers burnt the Roma football ground
and ploughed it with tractors, causing damage of Drs 5 mill. We spoke about this with
local journalists and the Synaspismos deputy, Ms Loule, the Community secretary, and the
Roma themselves. All of them (apart from the Roma) told us that the subject of the contest
concerns only a small group of the Roma, which was named "Mafiosi" and were said
to be laundering dirty money for the rich people in Larissa. Ms Loule, who is the area’s
deputy, told us that she does not support these particular Roma, which is not the case
with the Roma in the nearby Tirnavo settlement (of about 100 families). The people in the
latter settlement live without water, toilets, etc. and face racism, especially from
parents who do not want Roma children at school with their children. We should point out
that the issue related to the market was solved and that now the Yiannouli Roma take part
in it as has been the practice for many years now.
27 June - Vassilis Sakellariou and Sophia Nikolaidou visited the
settlement at Ano Liosia to see whether Maria Loutsa’s mother had returned from the
countryside and to get her signature for the tests at PIKPA. She had not come back. If she
does not sign, we cannot do anything further. We carried out registration of the
settlement’s inhabitants for the vaccination program.
2 July - Vassilis Sakellariou and Sophia Nicolaidou visited the
Aspropyrgos settlement in relation to the Panyiotopoulos matter. We saw young V.
Karahalios who had undergone plastic surgery. We discovered that other 20 families have
moved into the settlement which means that we have to carry out new registration.
3 July - Vassilis Sakellariou and Sophia Nikolaidou visited the
Minister of Health and Welfare, Mr. Kotsonis, about the well-known "Kotsonis
Announcements" of July 1996 about the Roma, and to see which of them had
materialized. We expressed our deep concern about the frequent evictions of Roma, mainly
from mayors and village leaders. We made a declaration after we checked with all the
ministries which had taken upon themselves to enforce the Announcements. No one had done
anything.
4 July - We went to Parliament (Sophia Nicolaidou, Vassilis
Sakellariou, Maria Demetriou) and met Mr. K Angelides and Mr. F Stamou from the Prime
Minister’s Private Office, on the subject of the continuing evictions of Roma,
particularly by the Mayor of Ano Liosia. Mr. Angelides was uncompromising and the
discussion fell on deaf ears. The arrogance of the decision makers was evident.
10 July - A meeting on Roma issues took place in Thessaloniki.
Nothing has yet been done about reception sites for Roma. The Roma prefer to move to the
Gonou barracks which has all the necessary conditions and is close to the vegetable
market.
11 July - There was a meeting at our office with Ms Baharopoulou
(a social worker) and Mr. Filippou (an architect). They had promised to carry out a study
of the Roma of Ano Liosia and asked our help. The meeting was attended by the following
GHM members: Sophia Nikolaidou, Vassilis Sakellariou and Lola Kalandraki.
18 July - We contacted the Ag. Paraskevi Town Council and the
Prefecture of East Attica. On the previous day the Prefecture, with the help of a strong
police force, had demolished 28 Roma shacks in the Pefkaki area, which had been there for
25-30 years.
21 July - The Panayiotopoulos matter is over. He withdrew Drs
283,045 (with interest). He wanted to pay me, something which I naturally refused. I
accepted, after a lot of pressure, that he buy me a glass of orange juice in memory of his
wife. He asked us to find him a lawyer to take the case to court and we promised we would
do that.
22 July - I went for the last time to the Savings Bank to take
Mr. Panayiotopoulos’ documents to give them to the lawyer, Mr. Spirakos, who will take
over the pending court case. I spoke with Ms Kovaiou who wanted to know more about the GHM
and I thanked her for her help in the matter.
23 July - Vassilis Sakellariou, Sophia Nikolaidou and Nassos
Theodorides went to the Ag. Paraskevi Town Council where the Roma were demonstrating
against the demolition of their shacks a few days prior to that. They had asked us to
speak to the Mayor and the Prefect because the latter refused to see the Roma. Later we
went to the settlement because we had been informed that Council workers, along with the
police, had returned to demolish the shacks which still remained. They did not demolish
them, though, because the workers refused to obey to the orders. We contacted the office
of the Minister of Health and Welfare to intervene and to stop the evictions. We succeeded
in this.
25 July - Mr. Gotsis, the Mayor of Ag. Paraskevi, contacted us.
We asked him to stop evicting the Roma. He told us that he is not a racist, and that the
land belongs to the citizens who want to build houses on it and that these citizens have
contacted the courts for a solution of the problems.
28 July - Mr. Efstathides, the Prefect of East Attica,
telephoned us about the Roma of Ag. Paraskevi. He said that the Roma were occupying the
site illegally and that he had asked the police to evict them twice, but the police
refused because of the recent intervention of the Special Forces at Aspropyrgos, which
would have led to a storm of protest. (Eighteen months ago the Special Forces entered
Aspropyrgos wearing hoods and carrying clubs and guns and destroyed the Roma shacks. They
even killed the settlement’s dogs. This caused a violent reaction on the part of the
press and society as a whole.) However, after out intervention with the Ministry of
Health, the evictions stopped and there are efforts to find a site for the transfer of the
Roma.
29 July - We visited the Ag. Paraskevi settlement. Some of the
people had rebuilt their shacks. They asked us what they should do, and we answered them
at length. On the same day the case of the 60 Roma families in Kalamata was heard. The
Town Council wanted to evict them from a site which belongs to them, and where they had
lived for the past three years. The Prefect had made an application to the Ministry for
Public Affairs to give Drs 70 mill to buy land for the settlement.
1 September - Sophia Nikolaidou and Vassilis Sakellariou went to
the Ano Liosia settlement to give the doctor’s opinion about Maria Loutsa that her
mother should take her to see the committee at PIKPA on 2 September. It was our last
attempt. Her mother was completely indifferent.
3 September - The GHM had a mission in Thrace and Macedonia to
record the Roma problems there. The first stop was Evosmos in Thessaloniki, the site of
one of the largest settlements in Greece. The delegation included: Panayote Dimitras,
Nafsika Papanikolatou, Sophia Nikolaidou, Nassos Theodorides and Mariana Lenkova. We were
accompanied by Ms N. Mazaraki from NELE. In July the Mayor, Mr. Alexandrides, and some
private citizens, had taken the Roma to court to evict them because the land they live on
had increased its value. The Roma are to be moved to the Gonour barracks. However, the
matter has been postponed. We should point out that the mayors of Elftheriou, Kordeliou,
Kaitetzides, Ionas Sevides and the President of Kaoloroiu Pandelides have pointed out that
they will not accept even one Roma family in their areas.
4 September - Thrace. The delegation included: Panayote
Dimitras, Nafsika Papanikolatou and Sophia Nikolaidou. We went to the Pournalik area
(Remvi) in Xanthi. Muslim Roma live here. The main problem is unemployment and
children’s education. The latter is so, because the families have to pay Drs 50,000 for
each child to attend the council’s minority school. Another problem is the
implementation of the new town plan which provides for the demolition of the Roma’s
small houses. Many of them do not have documents of possession because those have been
lost since the time of the Ottoman Empire, or have been burnt, or are in Istanbul, so the
Roma will have to go there to find them. They have been told, however, that whoever has
documents will be given compensation.
5 September - Drosero: One thousand families live here, mostly
Muslim Roma, who speak Turkish. There are about nine Christian families. The houses are in
good shape. All children go to the same school and there are no problems. Unemployment is
widespread, while employment is only seasonal (picking of tobacco, tomatoes, etc.).
Koyioun Kioi (Kimmeria) There are 80-90 Christian Roma families here
(about 500 people). Unemployment is very high. They told us that the Councils do not give
enough market permits to them to go all over Thrace. Their neighborhood does not have
sewers and children’s playgrounds and the president of the Community, Badak Hussein,
does not treat them in the same way as the other residents. President Hussein, when we
addressed these matters to him, said that he does not differentiate between residents. On
the subject of sewers, he said that when they went to install them, the Roma stopped them,
kicked them out and threw stones at them, because the sewers would have passed through
some plots of their land.
Evlalo: Fifty Christian families live here. There are 10 non-Roma
families and the rest of the inhabitants are Muslim. The problem of market permits is
central here. There are no schools and the approximately 50 children have to go some
kilometers on foot to the next village, along a dangerous main road used by heavy lorries.
In cooperation with the headmaster of the school, we asked the Prefect, Mr. Saltouro, to
arrange for a bus to transfer the children. The matter is still pending.
5 September - Komotini - The Mahalas Quarter (or Teneketzidika).
The delegation included: Panayote Dimitras, Nafsika Papanikolatou, Sophia Nikolaidou and
Abdulhalim Dede. About 350 Muslim Roma families live here. They speak Turkish, while most
speak Romanes at home. They have been here for over 70 years. The school is three
kilometers away. They do seasonal work - picking of cotton, tomatoes, etc. - and the women
clean houses. Unemployment is very high. The houses are very small, (2.5 by 2.5 m for 6-7
people), without water, toilets, windows. Most of them are lit by light coming from the
doorway. There are a few common toilets in the street in a disgusting condition. Their
transfer to another site has been agreed upon and the Roma families have been promised
houses built in cooperation with the Organization for Workers’ Housing (OEK).
Kalkatza (Ifaistos): Muslim Roma families have lived here for about 30
years. They have schools and the houses are in good condition. The land was given by the
state, however none of the inhabitants has documents of possession. Whenever there are
elections under way, the Roma are promised to be given such documents, but the solution is
still pending. We heard that they may be evicted because the settlement is on the road to
the University and presents an unpleasant picture.
4 September - A police patrol car went to the settlement of N.
Alikarnassos and asked for the secretary of the Union, Heracles Kalamiotis. The latter was
absent, so they returned on the next with the public prosecutor, Mr. Chronopoulos. Mr.
Kalamiotis was still absent. We learned that a citizen had summoned him because the
settlement is not clean. This whole operation was carried out, so that it frightens the
Roma and makes them leave.
9 September - We visited Thessaloniki with Nitsa Mazaraki. We
wanted to find out whether the Prime Minister had visited the Roma of Evosmos during his
trip there. He had not. He had only visited the established Roma at Dendropotamos, but not
the Roma in the biggest settlement in Greece who are without water, electricity and
toilets.
We spoke to Mr. Drandrakis in Crete. The whole Town Council Board of
Nea Alikarnassou was said to have ruled out any transfer whatsoever of the Roma to other
areas. The Roma created the union "Hope" to help themselves claim their rights
more efficiently.
10 September - The First Court of Kalamata found the Roma
innocent because they were able to prove that they had lived in the area, from which the
Council wants to evict them, since 1994. Mr. Spiliotis, their lawyer, told us about this.
We spoke with Mr. Liogas, who is responsible to the Ministry of Defense
for the barracks where the Roma from N. Alikarnassou and from Evosmos want to be
transferred to, because the matter is delayed. He told us that there is a procedure of
cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment and with the Local Self-Administration
for the habitation of the barracks. Both partners have presented the needs of the local
communities. He said these procedures would be delayed and asked us to go to the Ministry
and discuss this personally with the responsible people.
We spoke with the deputy-mayor of Kato Ahaia, Mr. Gotsis, and we asked
why the Council, as a newspaper claimed, did not want to give permission to a group of
Roma to make a cesspit. These Roma live in disgusting conditions with rats running around.
Mr. Gotsis said that they "are not Roma, they are tramps who live near the river,
they are rag and bone men, they collect rubbish and so the rats should eat them. We
can’t bother about them all the time." He also said that the newspapers tell lies
to slander the Town Council.
17 September - New registration was carried out at Aspropyrgos.
Total inhabitants 308, out of whom 125 are adults and 183 are children.
26, 27, 28 September - We took part in a three-day festival
organized by Synaspismos. We had a booth and distributed press releases.
30 September - We contacted Mr. Drandakis in Crete. The police
entered the settlement at N. Alikarnassou at 6.00 in the morning and arrested the Roma
woman Paraskevi Tsakiris who had got up to go to the toilet (in the bushes). They charged
her with possession of over 600 grams of hashish. Now she is in custody. This woman has
four underage children, one of whom was taken to the hospital with stomach problems, and
has no one to look after these children. We called the office of the Justice Minister, Mr.
Dailianas, and asked whether it is possible for him to intervene to speed up the case so
that Ms Tsakiris returns to her children.
8 October - Ano Liosia: There was the opening ceremony of a
Youth Roma Center, founded by the General Secretariat for the Youth. Before we went to the
opening, we passed by the settlement. The Council police had thrown out in the rain the
household belongings of three families, while the latter were away at work, and had taken
away their mobile homes. We made this fact known at the opening ceremony and the Mayor,
who was there, became enraged, grabbed the microphone, and swore that all Roma in the
settlement are criminals.
17 October - Representatives of the GHM (Sophia Nikolaidou and
Maria Demetriou), along with "Doctors of the World," went to Aspropyrgos and
registered the inhabitants for vaccinations. There are 183 children here who do not go to
school because there is not one. The nearest one is six kilometers away. We spoke with the
Director for First Degree Education at the Ministry for Education, Mr. Gousis, who
promised to arrange for their transfer by bus or he would provide a mobile school in the
settlement. He thanked us for the information, saying: "That should have been done by
the appropriate authorities in the area." We also spoke to the Director for Popular
Education (L.E.) Mr. Papadomanolakis. He said that L.E. would help with the preschool
education of the Roma children.
20 October - We went to the three Council Schools in Zefiri (3rd,
2nd and 4th). The 3rd School has only Roma children,
because the non-Roma parents send theirs illegally to another school. This school has 280
registered pupils, out of whom 200 attend classes; at the 2nd School there are
141 registered and 84 attend classes and at the 4th School there are 29
registered and 16 attend classes. In all three schools there were no traveling student
cards. We contacted the Director for First Level Education, Mr. Saliakas, and he promised
that within a week the cards would be sent to all schools. We checked and they were there.
21 October - The Mayor of Zefiri, with bulldozers and
accompanied by the police, demolished 10 Roma shacks with the excuse that the Roma
"are dirty, they traffic in drugs and are illegal." We contacted Mr. Stamou (he
works at the Prime Minister’s office). He went there immediately and stopped the
demolition. The same evening the police made a blockade at the settlement charging that
the Roma are dealing in drugs. Wearing hoods, they terrorized whoever they found - women
and children alike. We sent an open letter to the Minister of Public Order to stop the
blockade.
23 October - Along with "Doctors of the World" and a
three-person delegation from their branch in France, we visited the settlements of
Aspropyrgos and Ano Liosia.
24 October - With the same delegation we went to the Kurdish
refugee camp in Pendeli and to the Roma settlement at Ag. Paraskevi.
5 November - There was a meeting with the Minister of Health,
Mr. Kotsonis, and with his advisors. Sophia Nikolaidou, Maria Demetriou and Vassilis
Sakellariou from the GHM, as well as Andonis Altanis, Effie Demetroulia, Freddy Stamou
from the Ministry were also present. They told us that they had authorized Drs 100 mill
for the Evosmos settlement.
10 November - We sent a written proposal to the Director for
First Level Education at the Ministry of Education, Mr. Goutsis, informing him about the
registrations at Aspropyrgos and Ano Liosia. We asked him to take on the subject of the
Roma children’s education. We sent the same letter to the head of the Prefecture’s
Committee for Popular Education, Mr. Papadomanolakis.
12 November - A meeting with "Doctors Without
Boundaries." They asked for the data from the registration in Aspropyrgos and
generally for whatever facts we had collected about the settlements. We did not give them
anything, because they told us that they were not going to do anything directly in Greece.
An Initiative Group Against Racism and Xenophobia was created in Crete.
The first meeting took place. Kurds and Roma took part in it.
13 November - We sent an open letter to the Mayor of Nea
Alikarnassos about his racist behavior towards the Roma. It was published in the local
press on the 15th and 16th November. The Mayor replied to us through
the press: "If we love the Roma, we should take them into our homes."
6 November - Spata: We visited the settlement. A few days
earlier, the Council, with bulldozers and accompanied by the police, had tried to demolish
the Roma shacks, because they are next to a new kindergarten and the children’s parents
had complained about that. With the support of other inhabitants, the demolition was
stopped and the process of finding of another site had been started, so that the Roma be
transferred there. We found out that their children do not go to school due to the lack of
appropriate papers. We contacted the head of the school, the Director for First Level
Education and the Ministry of Education and the problem was eventually solved. The
children now attend school.
21 November - We contacted the Deputy Prefect of Patras, Mr.
Barakos, because we read in the newspaper that the Prefect, along with the Council
Authorities demolished three Roma shacks in the Makriyanni area. Mr. Barakos told us that
they demolished 23 shacks and the Roma themselves demolished the rest. The aim is, he told
us, to renovate the site in accordance with health regulations (water, toilets, etc). They
are planning to spread gravel and re-build the shacks according to town-planning
specifications. Only the local Roma will stay there, and not the travelers, because, as he
said, other areas must also take Roma. Every week a social worker will visit the
settlement. Mr. Barakos invited us to go and see the new site.
The GHM representatives Sophia Nikolaidou and Nassos Theodorides
visited the Children and Family Support Center at 12, Iatrakou Street in Metaxourgeion. Ms
Mirto Lemou, a social worker, is responsible for the Center. There, Roma children of every
age, mostly Muslim, are helped by volunteers to learn to write, draw and do their school
work. Many 18-year-olds are learning to write their first letters. Along with Ms Lemou we
visited the Muslim Roma neighborhoods in the area. Their problems are poverty,
unemployment and mainly the fact that they do not have papers for the legal status of
their families. At our initiative, members of the Lawyers’ Union took on the solving of
this problem and offered them legal aid.
26 November - We were informed by Mr. Gousis (Ministry of
Education) on the question of education of Roma children at Aspropyrgos and Ano Liosia.
The issue had been addressed to the head of the Administration of West Attica in Elefsina,
asking for his suggestions.
30 November - We visited Aspropyrgos with "Doctors of the
World."
9 December - We sent faxes to food manufacturers (the addresses
had been given to us by the Union of Greek Manufacturers) asking for food to give as
Christmas presents to the Roma in Ano Liosia, Aspropyrgos and Zefiri.
11 December - A visit to Aspropyrgos. The first vaccinations
were carried out on 50 children.
16 December - They called us from Spata to tell us that the
kindergarten refused to take a Roma child, Vassilis Konstantinou, with the excuse that
there were no vacant places. The matter is on-going.
17 December - The Manufacturer Melissa (macaroni) and the
Sklavenitis Supermarket Chain got our request and gave us food for the Roma.
24 December - Food distribution took place at the Aspropyrgos,
Ano Liosia and Zefiri settlements. The GHM collected the food, and the NGO Forum gave Drs
300,000.
29 December - The first round of vaccinations was completed at
Aspropyrgos by "Doctors of the World." The same day they distributed food,
clothing and toys to the Roma.
At the Ano Liosia settlement there are about 15 families who are not
able to access the rubbish tip. The children are not allowed to go to school.
At Aspropyrgos there are about 50 families who have no water,
electricity, toilets or school. These people are not allowed to go into the landfill to
collect recyclable rubbish, which is their main means of making a living.
The resettlement to the barracks at Gonou in Evosmos has not gone
ahead, despite the promises by the Ministry of Health that Drs 100 mill had been
authorized.
The solution of the problems of the Spata Roma is pending, while the
Prefecture is looking for a site to transfer the Roma to.
The same happens with the solution of the problems in Ag. Paraskevi,
where the Prefecture is looking for another site.
The children of Aspropyrgos and Ano Liosia are waiting for a decision
by the Ministry of Education on how they are going to attend school.
There is not even the question of looking for a site in Nea
Alikarnassos, Crete. Nobody there wants the Roma.
The court case about Panayiotopoulos’ wife is still pending. The
lawyer, Mr. Spirakos, has undertaken it.
The question of providing of a bus to transfer the children from the
village of Evlalo to school at the village of Mikro Orfani in Xanthi is still pending.
In Trikala, the situation has improved because now they have a water
tap, but they continue to live without electricity, toilets and sanitary conditions.
However, evictions have been stopped.
In Metaxourgeion, the solution of the problems in relation to
people’s documents is still pending. A team from the Lawyers’ Union has visited the
area and asked from the Children and Family Support Center to provide them with the papers
of 10 families, so that they begin sorting the documents out.
In Chios, the Roma will remain in the Kofina area. They are still the
same ones, the traveling Roma. No action has been taken against them.
20 January 1998
Sophia Nikolaidou.