GREEK REFUGEE CAMP: NO IMPLICATIONS FOR VISA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000798 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2017 TAGS: PREL CVIS GR SUBJECT: GREEK REFUGEE CAMP: NO IMPLICATIONS FOR VISA WAIVER PROGRAM REF: 06 ATHENS 2831 Classified By: Charge Thomas Countryman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) On March 6, DHS Undersecretary Emilio Gonzalez and a team of DHS officials visited the Greek refugee camp in the town of Lavrio, approximately 75 kilometers from Athens. During the one-hour meeting and tour of the facility, U/S Gonzalez observed several poster-sized photographs of the outlawed Turkish Kurdish Party (PKK) leader and convicted terrorist Abdullah Ocalan along with several PKK flags and other artwork bearing the hammer and sickle as well as AK-47 photos throughout the facility. The U/S highlighted the issue to the Embassy upon his return, expressing his concern about the security implications of terrorist sympathizers circulating freely in Greece; and a specific concern if such asylum applicants were to gain citizenship and if Greece were to become a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) country. On the latter point, Post is confident that Greek processing of PKK-sympathetic Kurdish asylum seekers presents no security issue associated with Visa Waiver Program (VWP) inclusion. End summary. LAVRIO CAMP TODAY -------------- ¶2. (C) Greece's Lavrio Refugee Center has been in operation for more than 60 years. It is run entirely by the Hellenic Red Cross, but receives GoG funding. The residents, who are all applicants for political asylum, are not/not incarcerated. They are allowed to come and go from the facility as they wish. The Center provides meals, cleaning services and medical facilities for the residents and their families. The total current population is approximately 300 persons; most of whom are Kurdish Turks and, to a lesser degree, Bangladeshi. According to GoG officials, the Center is well accepted by the local community of Lavrio and many of the residents eventually receive their education and find employment in the area. ¶3. (C) During DHS Undersecretary Gonzalez' tour of the Lavrio Refugee Center on March 6, he and his team noted a number of large poster-sized photographs of convicted terrorist Abdullah Ocalan and other figures, photos of AK-47 assault weapons, PKK flags and art work bearing the traditional communist hammer and sickle symbol. Upon returning to the Embassy, U/S expressed concern that active or sympathizing members of a known terrorist organization were not detained by Greek authorities. Further, such persons might ultimately receive Greek citizenship. Should Greece eventually be accepted into the VWP, the political affiliations of these now-Greek citizens might pose a security risk to the United States. ¶4. (C) Embassy staff who have visited the Lavrio camp over a 15-year period tell us that these posters and photographs are nothing new. In fact, they were no surprise to the GoG officials from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Public Order, the Police Services, and the Hellenic Red Cross who accompanied U/S Gonzalez. Most of the inhabitants of the camp base their asylum claims on grounds of persecution in their home country. Ethnic Kurdish asylum seekers in Greece likely believe that by stressing their loyalty to Ocalan (whom the GOG itself sheltered),they stand a better chance at winning the right to stay in Greece. ¶5. (C) That right is hard to get. Greece has one of the lowest rates of approval of refugee applications in all of Europe and according to a UNHCR official quoted in the press, has the lowest asylum approval rate for the entire EU. In 2006, according to UNHCR figures, over 10,400 asylum applications were rejected in Greece, while only 64 were approved, a rate of less than one percent, compared with an overall EU rate of approximately 26 percent. (We are unable to say how many of the 64 approvals were for Kurdish refugees.) In nearly all cases where refugee status is denied, the GoG does not physically deport the individual, but simply orders them to depart from Greece. Neither we nor the GoG have a good estimate of how many move on to other EU countries with significant numbers of Kurds legally resident, after (or even before) being denied refugee status in Greece. ¶6. (C) Even if a Kurd gains refugee status, gaining Greek citizenship is far harder. Upon completion of submitting an asylum application, an individual receives a Rose Card - which permits holders to remain in the country for 6 months and to seek a work permit. The card is renewable every 6 ATHENS 00000798 002 OF 002 months. For those who eventually do receive refugee status, they receive a Yellow Card - a refugee identification document on the basis of which the individual can reside and work in Greece for 5 years. After five years of residence in Greece within the last 12 years, the individual can apply for citizenship. At present, a total of approximately 1500 persons annually are naturalized in Greece. While no breakdown exists to permit a determination of how many previously held refugee status, that only 64 asylum applications were even approved last year is mathematical assurance that the number, if any, is minuscule (reftel). Most new citizenship cases are for people with Greek ancestors who are perceived as 'returning Greeks' from the shores of the Black Sea, Albania or other areas. Embassy personnel know of cases of African- or Asian-born immigrants becoming citizens, but we know of many more cases of such people trapped in a Kafkaesque miasma. ¶7. (C) Candidates for naturalization are interviewed by the Naturalization Committee appointed by the Minister of the Interior. The interviewers include senior civil servants from the Ministry, a sociologist and a psychologist. They examine the candidate's knowledge of the Greek language, history, culture, moral character and personality. At least 20 to 30 percent of all applicants are rejected by the Committee. (Ref A) ¶8. (C) Citizens of countries which participate in the VWP are required to present a valid passport from that country which is in conformity with all VWP biometric passport standards. Only Greek citizens receive Greek passports, and the new state-of-the-art passport is only issued after tight identity checks, which Embassy personnel have been invited to review. The vast majority of refugees at Lavrio, whether they are granted asylum or some other non-citizen status that permits them to live and work in Greece, will not receive Greek passports and will never be eligible for VWP travel. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) The Lavrio refugee camp, like others in Europe and other regions is, more or less by definition, filled with politicized individuals hostile to the government of the country they,ve left. The Greeks, unsophisticated sympathy to Kurds is fueled by the classic 'enemy of my enemy' mentality, and certainly does not extend to an eagerness to grant them Greek citizenship or passport. COUNTRYMAN