Greek Far Right Hangs a Target on Immigrants

By LIZ ALDERMAN

Eirini Vourloumis/The New York Times via Redux
Mohammed Irfan, right, a legal Pakistani immigrant who owns a hair salon and two other stores in Athens. He said members of the Golden Dawn threatened to burn his shop

ATHENS — A week after an extremist right-wing party gained an electoral foothold in Greece’s Parliament earlier this summer, 50 of its members riding motorbikes and armed with heavy wooden poles roared through Nikaia, a gritty suburb west of here, to telegraph their new power. As townspeople watched, several of them said in interviews, the men careened around the main square, some brandishing shields emblazoned with swastikalike symbols, and delivered an ultimatum to immigrants whose businesses have catered to

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July 12, 2012

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1. Philip Vorgias wrote on July 12, 2012 7:50 AM	What has Human Rights Watch done to address the fact that Turkey REFUSES to reaccept illegal immigrants which have entered Greece through that nation-contrary to international law? Not a word out of HRW about that, just criticism for Greece about Golden Dawn nitwits. It is time Turkey was criticised for being the conduit by which 90% of illegal immigrants enter the EU and Greece in particular.

2. Urania Glassman wrote on July 13, 2012 12:23 AM	Please, Turkey is not Greece. Nor is it this issue. Yes, Greece is being held hostage by incorrect economic policies of the EU. Nonetheless, it is horrifying to witness a Greek fascist element scapegoating the "other." This is Greece, a European country, not in any fundamental way like Turkey. This is Greece, not Egypt, nor Syria. This is Greece, one of the few European countries whose people took a brave stand against fascism in WWII. But sadly, Greece has always had its fascist element. Scapegoating of immigrants? in Greece? What a stain! Police turning a blind eye? Not a surprise. I hope the caring and generous people of Greece are not so demoralized that they are unable to rally against this.

3. Philip Vorgias wrote on July 13, 2012 6:37 AM	Everyone repudiates attacks on immigrants Urania, but I resent criticism coming from a discredited organization like HRW. Believe me there are those of us who KNOW this group from past experience. They specialize in criticising western nations while giving a bye to nations like Turkey. You can't display selective ethics and maintain respectability. The fact is 99% of illegal immigrants in Greece enter THROUGH TURKEY, often with the assistance of corrupt Turkish officials. Turkey refuses to accept-back illegals who have been arrested in Greece-or other EU nations. Finally, Turkey's human rights shortcomings are a mile long and a mile deep-yet HRW has yet to issue even ONE condemnation of that nation for it's appalling record. They have a political agenda and it STINKS.

4. Argyrakis VAN wrote on July 13, 2012 9:17 AM	Does Greece even have an immigration policy? I am a Greek Citizen and can't even get a passport.

5. Aristide Caratzas wrote on July 13, 2012 3:53 PM	I have dealt with HRW in the past, when they had prepared a report "to order," which had spoken of the violation of the property rights of the Muslims in Thrace; once we researched it we had found that the very people who were named as victims of government eminent-domain land seizures actually had sought them, because they received above market prices by way of compensation. When we confronted HRW with these facts there great embarrassment all around, which then prompted them to issue a report of real violations of property rights, the seizures of the Greeks' properties in Constantinople and elsewhere by the Turkish government or even private parties. As for the issue of violence against illegal aliens by Golden Dawn, it is real but much less prevalent than the impression given by the episodic mentions in the HRW and the NY Times piece for that matter. It is furthermore a kind of vigilantism linked to very high crime rates by criminal illegal (and legal) alien gangs that have terrorized entire neighborhoods of Athens and elsewhere in Greece (which is also the direct cause for Golden Dawn's success at the polls). It is troubling and sad that vigilantism is the order of the day, but that reflects a decade of governmental incompetence coupled with various ideological constructs that have tied the police's hands. This should sound familiar to those who lived in NYC between 1975-1990; the average policeman was demoralized and avoided confronting criminals because the government did not give him cover. So there developed the Guardian Angels. When law and order were restored, the vigilantes evaporated.

6. Theodore G. Karakostas wrote on July 13, 2012 5:37 PM	I dealt with HRW and dealt with different researchers on Turkey trying to get them to do something on Cyprus and the Greek Orthodox in Turkey. I repeatedly sent them letters on the attacks on the Patriarchate, murders etc.. as well as the killings of the Cypriots in August 1996. The answer I always got was that they had no "resources" for Cyprus or the Greeks in Turkey. Finally, by 2006 I thought I was getting some place when the guy I was corresponding with assured me that there would be a report three months down the line on Greek and orther Christians in Turkey (this was in 2006). When I followed up, the guy was gone from HRW. I still do not know what happened as I have found them to be very secretive and easily irritated when someone questions them. During the early period I was contacting them two of their people who told me they had no resources for the Greeks were simultaneously publishing a report entitled "the Turks of Western Thrace" this was a report published in January 1999. HRW is another think tank representing special interests. They have an agenda. The Russians got wise to their political activities and expelled them from Russia. Greece should do likewise with them and other NGO's. Theodore G. Karakostas

7. Constantinos E. Scaros wrote on July 13, 2012 8:44 PM	To appreciate fully how much the illegal immigration problem throughout the world has gotten out of hand, consider the backlash against calling border-jumpers "illegal" aliens. "Perish the thought!" some say, as it places a malicious stain upon them. The politically correct powers-that-be prefer to call them "undocumented" aliens. Much more benign. What next? "Citizenship-challenged?" Be mindful of the power of language! The pen is mightier than the sword, indeed!

8. Nicholas Kostopoulos wrote on July 16, 2012 5:26 PM	I say all illegals in Greece should be put on a boat and turned away . While this may be unhuman, it would show others who are to be illegals, that Greece will take a HARD STANCE to crush them and make Greece more Greek and profitable. If this is not done Greece will not be Greece too much longer.
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