GREEK FORUM OF MIGRANTS

We express our deepest concern in relation to the information, complaints and testimonies about violence and abuse by the Hellenic Police in the detention center in Moria, Lesvos. 

Visual material depicting scenes of violent, inhuman and degrading treatment towards refugees causes disgust, while information about arbitrary arrests is of great concern.

In addition, the action of citizens who appear, in the same video, to be attacking and severely beating migrants and refugees, under the tolerance of police officers, raises many questions and requires instant investigation by the competent authorities.

The State policies have led to a double dead end: they have left refugees and migrants for months in miserable situation, while at the same time they are testing the resilience of the habitants of the islands. Repression, police violence, collective temporary custody and threatened heavy convictions on both right- and wrong-doers, plunge even further into this impasse.

The harsh criminal treatment of migrants and refugees on the one hand, and the police violence, which no one seems to be disapproving or investigating, on the other hand, cast serious doubts on the level of protection of the rights in our country.

We ask the Greek justice to stand up as a guarantor of the rule of law and resist to a climate of attaching collective responsibility as well as seeking of scapegoats.

Co-signatories (in alphabetical order)
ANTIGONE - Information and Documentation Center on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non Violence
Babel DC
Bridges - Humanitarian Initiative
Hellenic League for Human Rights
Caritas Hellas
City of Athens Migrant Integration Council
Generation 2.0 for Rights, Equality & Diversity
Greek Forum of Migrants
Greek Forum of Refugees
HIAS Greece
Melissa: Network of Migrant Women in Greece
Motion for the defense of refugees` and immigrants` rights
PR.A.K.S.I.S. - Programmes of Development of Social Support and Medical Co-operation
SolidarityNow
United Afghan`s Community in Greece