Migrant workers on hunger strike in Greece

Submitted by Matthew on 16 February, 2011 - 9:19

On 25 January around 300 migrant workers in Athens and Thessalonica began a hunger-strike to demand “legalisation”. The majority of them travelled to Athens and occupied a section of the law department at Athens University, but that occupation has now ended.

Most of the migrants come from north Africa and have lived and worked in Greece for years.

However, after losing jobs, these workers have now also lost residence and work permits. The number of undocumented people in Greece has grown since the economic fall-out and now stands at half a million.

This is an extract from their statement:

“We are migrant men and women from all over Greece. We came here due to poverty, unemployment, wars and dictatorships. The multinational companies and their political servants did not leave another choice for us than risking 10 times our lives to arrive at Europe’s door…

“[In Greece] we live without dignity, in the darkness of illegality in order to benefit employers and the state services with the harsh exploitation of our labour. We live from our sweat and with the dream, some day, to have equal rights with our fellow Greek workers.

“As salaries and pensions are cut and everything is getting more expensive, the migrants are presented as those to blame, as those whose fault is the abjection and harsh exploitation of Greek workers and small businessman. The propaganda of fascist and racist parties and groups is nowadays the official state discourse on issues of migration.

“The ‘proposals’ of the far right are announced as governmental policies: a wall in Evros, floating detention centres, a European army in the Aegean, repression in the cities, massive deportations. They want to convince Greek workers that, all of a sudden, we are a threat to them...

“The answer to the lies and the cruelty has to be given now and it will come from us, from migrant men and women. We are going onto the front line, with our own lives to stop this injustice. We ask for the legalisation of all migrant men and women, we ask for equal political and social rights and obligations with Greek workers. We ask from our Greek fellow workers, from every person suffering from exploitation to stand with us...

“We prefer to die here rather than our children suffer what we have been through.”

• More: http://hungerstrike300.

espivblogs.net/

• Messages of support: hungerstrike300@espiv.net

• Messages of protest to:

Giannis Raggousis, Minister of Interior:
ypourgos@ypes.gov.gr

The Prime Minister, George Papanedreou:
dialogue@politicalforum.gr

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