Also see: The Hard-Working Mexican Immigrant
Slain Illegal Was Driving Drunk
I mean, hey, it is not like the illegals are gang members, rapists or CHILD rapists, etc.
But, but, but... they are all hard-working people trying to put food on the table!!!!
"Surge of illegal immigrants leaves Athens unsettled; Greek capital site of fights between groups" by Niki Kitsantonis, International Herald Tribune | October 3, 2008
ATHENS - About 80,000 migrants have traveled to Greece this year and decided to stay illegally, according to the authorities, who say the country can no longer handle the task of guarding the European Union's southeast flank.
While initial problems with the flood of migrants from Africa and the Middle East who are desperate to enter Europe centered on the Aegean islands, migrants are now wreaking havoc in the capital. The historic center of Athens has been riven by several street battles in recent months, involving what the police characterize as rival groups, often involved in dealing drugs, from Afghanistan, Iraq and war-torn African countries wielding swords, axes and machetes.
Need I even say it, readers?
Thousands of migrants living in cheap hotels and derelict houses struggle to find work.
"Illegal immigrants are becoming pawns to local drug barons and are forming gangs," Yiannis Sgouros, the Athens prefect, wrote last week in a letter to Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis. He added: "Something has to change or the area will become an arena for race clashes and gang wars."
We got whole city sections devoted to such things here in AmeriKa!
Thomas Hammarberg, a Swede who is human rights commissioner at the Council of Europe, has criticized Greece and other EU states for "criminalizing the irregular entry and presence of migrants as part of a policy of so-called migration management."
"Political decision-makers should not lose the human rights perspective in migration," Hammarberg wrote in an e-mail message when asked to comment for this article. "Migrants coming from war-torn states should be given refuge."
I agree, but WTF? How about NOT STARTING the WARS in the FIRST PLACE?!!!!
The government says that Greece grants protection to all refugees, as long as their status can be proven. But UN refugee agency statistics show that Greece approves less than one percent of asylum applications, compared with a European Union average of 20 percent.
According to minority groups, the treatment of migrants from war-torn states as "illegals" rather than refugees requiring protection forces them to eke out a life on the fringes of society.
"Most don't get asylum or social support and have to find other ways to survive," Adam Ziat, leader of the Union of Sudanese Refugees, said in a dingy cafe behind central Omonia Square that serves as his office.
According to Ahmed Mowias, coordinator of the Greek Migrants' Forum, newly-arrived refugees from conflict zones are being exploited by rackets run by Nigerians, Moroccans and Algerians established in the area. --more--"Sort of like here in AmeriKa!!!
