GREECE: NEW WAVE OF MIGRANT PROTESTS ON POLICE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000315

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS TO EUR/SE, PRM/ECA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF KCRM GR SMIG
SUBJECT: GREECE: NEW WAVE OF MIGRANT PROTESTS ON POLICE
TREATMENT, ASYLUM

REF: A. ATHENS 215

B. ATHENS 154

C. ATHENS 114

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1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In the latest incident in a series of
violent immigrant-police confrontations, police clashed with
approximately 70 illegal migrants in the port town of Patras
on March 3. Media reported that an illegal migrant was
injured attempting to stow away on a truck bound for Italy.
When other migrants began attacking the driver, police
responded with tear gas. This incident follows multiple
altercations between immigrants and police at the Petrou
Ralli police station in Athens, where asylum applications are
processed. Media reported that immigrants participated in
the countrywide December 2008 riots, and in January Afghan
immigrants demonstrated against police evictions in Athens.
In addition, a left-wing pro-immigrant NGO was the target of
a hand grenade attack on February 24. Greece faces sharp
increases in migration and refugees, with over 140,000
illegal immigrants detained in 2008. With a deficient asylum
process and an overwhelmed and poorly-trained police force,
continued violent clashes between immigrants and police are
likely, and may escalate as numbers of illegal migrants
increase. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) The March 3 clash between police and illegal
immigrants erupted in Patras, a western port town where
thousands of migrants from the Middle East, East Africa, and
Central Asia attempt to stow away on trucks and ferries bound
for Italy. The altercation began when an illegal migrant was
injured attempting to stow away on a truck and dozens of
other migrants immediately began throwing stones at the
driver. Police responded with tear gas and two officers and
a bystander were injured in the clash. Tensions between
migrants and truck drivers had already been simmering prior
to this incident: On February 23, Greek truck drivers blocked
the Patras port protesting a lack of police enforcement
against the stowaways, who have been accused of destroying
goods and battling drivers in their attempts to board the
trucks. An Embassy officer witnessed these boardings on
March 1: Afghani, Pakistani, and Iraqi migrants waited in
groups beside the road as freight trucks drove towards the
ferries, and as the trucks slowed the migrants attempted to
climb aboard. Some truck drivers tried to brake and
accelerate to shake the migrants off, while another driver
took a bat, exited his cab, and physically threatened the
stowaways. Unsuccessful migrants simply regrouped and
attempted to board the next available truck. No police were
present in the area. In recent days, media outlets have
shown video footage of such boardings, raising the public
profile of migrant-police clashes.


3. (SBU) Illegal migrants regularly clash with police at
the Petrou Ralli police station in Athens, the only location
in Greece where migrants can file applications for asylum.
Hundreds of migrants queue for hours outside of the police
station, and only a minority are allowed inside to file for
asylum -- the rest are forced to leave by police. Two
Pakistani migrants died falling into a ravine near the
queues, one on October 26 and another on January 3, and
migrants blamed the deaths on police crowd control efforts.
Other violent clashes occurred at Petrou Ralli on November 28
and February 19, with migrants demanding better police
treatment and freer access to apply for asylum. Major human
rights NGOs and international organizations have routinely
criticized the Greek government for its asylum procedures at
Petrou Ralli -- in a February 4 report, the Council of
Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights noted "grave, systemic
deficiencies" in the Greek asylum process and reported that
Greece granted asylum in only 0.03 percent of first-instance
cases during the first eight months of 2008. According to
the UNHCR, from 2006 to 2007 asylum applications in Greece
increased 105 percent, rising from 12,267 to 25,113.
However, while the number of illegal migrants detained in
Greece continued to rise, from 2007 to 2008 asylum
applications fell 21 percent, to 19,884 -- a decrease that
some NGOs attribute to the deterrence effect of the low
asylum approval rate. (NOTE: Foreign press has focused on
this issue, too. Aljazeera posted a two-minute video
examining the plight of asylum seekers and the situation
outside Petrou Ralli, at this link:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe
/2009/02/2009221155152736943.html. END NOTE.)


4. (U) During the December 2008 riots following the death of
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, Greek media reported
that illegal immigrants participated in looting shops in
Athens. In January, Afghan migrants demonstrated in the
Patissia neighborhood of Athens, protesting squalid living
conditions and frequent police raids and evictions. Many

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Afghans in Patissia are either homeless or live in crowded
ramshackle apartment buildings, often lacking running water
and electricity. Local residents subsequently demanded that
the government provide shelter for the migrants, while
right-wing groups organized protests insisting that the
Afghans leave the area. In addition, police suspect armed
right-wing groups in a February 24 hand grenade attack on a
leftist NGO, the Network of Social Support for Refugees and
Migrants. While no one was injured, media reports state that
police are concerned that this attack may herald increased
violence between rightists and immigrant-friendly
organizations.


5. (SBU) COMMENT: Given the recent spate of terrorist
attacks, anarchist violence, and public demonstrations here
in Greece (see REFTELs A and B),increased tension between
frustrated migrants and an overburdened police force is a
worrisome trend. The Greek government has been roundly
criticized by major NGOs and IOs for its poor treatment of
refugees and asylum seekers, but at the same time is
shouldering a growing illegal migration burden. The Hellenic
Police has low morale and lacks training and political
support (see REFTEL C),and Greek officials note that they
have seen little increase in assistance from the EU. As a
result, more frequent clashes between migrants and police are
likely. We will report on the situation in Patras in more
detail SEPTEL. END COMMENT.
SPECKHARD