WE BREAK THE FEAR | WE GO OUT IN THE STREETS

afisa-τελικη-ell-engl-prasino

You will get to know this country for real only if you don’t get drown somewhere in Aegean or if you manage somehow to cross the fence in Evros. From the detention centers in Amygdaleza; Korinthos; Paranesti to Patision; Amerikis sq.; Acharnon, the daily life for all those who have the wrong color or the wrong papers is suffocating. Or to put it better; unbearable.

In the center of the city you feel like you cant do anything. Without papers it s impossible for you to work. But even when you do find a job that would be “black”; without insurance. And the boss would do whatever s/he wants and you would be forced to go through that otherwise s/he would call the cops. Without papers you can’t move as you please, visit your family and your friends. Without papers, when you get sick, you are not sure whether the hospital will take you in. Without papers, when you are a bit late to pay the rent, your landlord is ready to throw you out and you ll either pay immediately or go away because there’s nothing else to do. Without papers, you cant even go out on the streets; most of the times you ‘re locking yourself at home when the sun goes down. And when you finally find the courage and get out, you are walking waveringly and full of fear. Every day that you go out it is like an adventure; you go out and you are not sure whether you will come back because there is one place that you might end up, and this is…

…the detention centers and the police departments. Detention centres are one of the ways the greek state and police have come up with to torture migrants. Lots of them go crazy even by thinking that they are in there without knowing when their captivity will end. In there, nothing is provided, the only thing you can do is to sleep. The summer heat is unbearable. The food is bad and too little. They do not give us medicine, clothes and, even when someone is sick, the ones deciding whether they must see a doctor or not are cops themselves, and they are always postponing it or do not care at all. The migrants cannot contact their families, since they do not have any phones, while visiting hours last only a little or are not being held at all, depending on the cops. Moving people around is a regular form of punishment, making it even harder for us to get in touch with our own people. They treat us like objects, like we are not humans. We demand the immediate change of such conditions. And when 18 months or more have gone by they let us go -if they haven’t meanwhile deported us yet- by giving us one paper stating we should abandon the country within the next month. And all those just because we are immigrants.

But it s not just that. It s all these that used to happen and are still going on everyday even if you are not in a detention center; even if you do have papers. It’s the 2 hours or even the whole night, that you are forced to stay at allodapon when the cop that checked your papers wants to be sure that the papers belong to you. It’s the familiar fascists-policemen who are still working for the police without being controlled by anyone. It’s the laws that allow cops to capture you whether you have or not papers because they consider you as a “danger for public provision and security”. It’s the situation that exists at the metro and the buses, when most of the people won’t sit next to you; when they exchange gazes that clearly say “check out the black; the pakistani; the..; the..” ; when they look at you and you know that they would prefer you to get off. It’s the cops behaviour during the street controls. And it’s not enough for them only to see your papers, but they want to humiliate you, to prove that you’ re nothing. Every time they’re asking you again and again your nationality and the reason why don’t you go back to your country and what are you doing here. Finally when they check your papers, they throw them down and they force you to pick them up. It’s all those things that lead you thinking: “why am I not coming back. Even I often wonder. Why do I stay in a country that I am seen as a stranger; as a threat; as someone who is responsible for everything bad that has happened to their lives. Because day after day you learn that you don’t belong here”.

Here however live also those who weren’t afraid. Those, who overcome together their fears by supporting each other. Those, who fought against the every day oppression. They are the immigrants, who revolted in the detention center of Amygdaleza at August of 2013. The immigrants, who revolted against the inhuman living conditions, against the complete lack of medical care, against the extension of their detention time. They are the same immigrants, who managed -with the support of the local solidarians- to let freeuncategorized in their trial, which took place one year after the rebellion at Amygdaleza. They are the same immigrants, who used to work in the fields of Skala Lakonias and Manolada; at the recycling factory at Aspropyrgos; at the fish shops at Nea Mixaniona and they united to strike against the misarable wages and the constant racist police attacks. They are the immigrants of Ermou and Asoee, who have resisted again and again -side by side with the local solidarians- to the police and the fascist attacks by defending their right to gain their lives by selling things on the street.

Those daily struggles and others less significant, who gives each one of us by her/himself, we are going to keep deep in our memory, because they give us strength for the future. The strength to face the moment, where we’ re looking beyond the fear and we’ re claiming a life with dignity. We want to raise our voices so everyone obtains papers from the very first moment without any conditions. We claim the closure even of the latter detention or hosting center of immigrants. We demand an everyday life  without racism and continuous humiliations by the police.

MIKROFONIKI AMERIKIS SQ. 7/3 17.00

RALLY SYNTAGMA 14/3 17:00

MIKROFONIKI OMONOIA SQ. 28/3 15.00

DEMONSTRATION VICTORIA SQ. 4/4 17:30

Assembly of immigrants and solidarians of asoee

التضامن مع المهاجرين المتهمين في ثورة أميجداليزا – تجمع يوم الاثنين 3نوفمبر بالمحكمة ديجليري (شارع ألكساندراس)

التضامن مع المهاجرين المتهمين في ثورة أميجداليزا –  تجمع يوم الاثنين 3نوفمبر بالمحكمة ديجليري (شارع ألكساندراس)                                                                           3نوفمبر، تبدأ محاكمة المهاجرين المتهمين بالتمرد في معسكر الاعتقال أميجداليزا والذي حدث في اغشت2013 ضد تمديد فترة الاحتجاز إلى أجل غير مسمى.    في البداية، خلال الأحداث تم اعتقال مايناهز 65 من المهاجرين حيث تم التلفيق لهم اتهامات جسيمة. بعد ذلك بعام، تم توزيع المعتقلين في مختلف السجون، بعضهم في معسكرات الاعتقال، أخرون تم ترحيلهم، والبعض تم الإفراج عنهم. وهرب خمسة منهم دون الإمساك بهم مراكز الإعتقال، تستخدمهم الدولة اليونانية والشرطة في التعذيب المهاجرين. هناك الكثير من المهاجرين ليس لهم أدنى فكرة عن موعد الإفراج عنهم، يصل بهم الحال إلى الجنون. هناك لايقدم لنا شيئ، الشيء الوحيد الذي يمكن أن نفعله في ذلك هو النوم طوال الوقت. حرارة الصيف لا تحتمل. الغذاء من نوعية رديئة وغير كافي. لايوجد ملابس ولا أدوية، وإذا مرض أي معتقل، المسؤول الوحيد بالاتصال بالطبيب هم الشرطة أنفسهم. وماذا يفعلون؟ في معظم الأحيان، يستدعون الطبيب بعد وقت متأخر أو يظلون غير مبالين تماماً. لا يمكننا الاتصال بأسرنا، لأنه يحظر استخدام الهواتف، وساعات الزيارة قليلة جداً ومدتها المحدودة زمنياً، متغيرة بتغير مزاج رجال الشرطة. يتم نقل السجناء إلى مخيمات أخرى شكلاً من أشكال العقوبة المعتادة مما يجعل من الصعب التواصل مع أصدقائنا. رجال الشرطة، يدخلون غرف المركز ويضربون المعتقلين بدون سبب.
يعاملوننا كجمادات و ليس كيشر، نطالب بالتغيير الفوري لهذه الحالة المزرية وخارج هذه المعتقلات، يواجه المهاجر نفس الحالة  في شكل سجن عير متناهي:
>> تركنا بلداننا وراءنا، نعتقد أننا ذاهبون للعيش في حرية مستمرة. غير أن هذه الحرية قد صودرت من لحظة دخولنا إلى اليونان، بعد المخاطرة بحياتنا في البحار والنجاة من الموت كما وقع في حالة فارماكونيسي وميتيليني. وبمجرد الدخول إلى اليونان، نجد أنفسنا في سجن في الهواء الطلق. بمنعنا من العمل من خلال قوانين عنصرية، مر عليها الزمن. رجال الشرطة، الفاشيين، والعنصريين يلاحقوننا في الشوارع وفي كل مكان. كل يوم نعيش تحت تهديد الوقوع في السجن أوفي مركز للشرطة، أو في معسكرات الاعتقال. يتم وصمنا و تشويه صورتنا للشعب اليوناني من خلال حملات التضليل العنصرية. وفقا لوسائل الإعلام، نحن اللصوص، القتلة، وناقلوا الأمراض.<<
ثورة أميجداليزا هو فعل استثنائي للمقاومة ضد الحرب التي تشنها الدولة اليونانية وجزء من المجتمع اليوناني العنصري ضد المهاجرين.حرب مع القتل على الحدود والترحيل، السجن في معسكرات الاعتقال أو مراكز الشرطة، حرب مع رفض طلبات اللجوء، حرب مع الاستغلال في العمل والقوانين العنصرية، حرب مستمرة تأخدك إلى حدود الكرب واليأس.     بالنسبة لنا، فإن الحل الوحيد هو إيجاد سبل للتعايش والعمل بشكل جماعي. مهاجرين و محليين، دون تمييز بسبب العرق أو الجنس أو اللون، متحدين ضد كل أشكال الهمجية
وفاشية الشرطة. نناضل من أجل خلق العالم الذي نصبو إليه. وأسلحتنا في هذا النضال، هي المساواة والتضامن.
 التضامن مع جميع المهاجرين المسجونين.
مراكز الاحتجاز؟ ابداً وفي أي مكان!
        مهاجرون asoee     تجمع يوم الاثنين 3نوفمبر بالمحكمة ديجليري (شارع ألكساندراس) 

Solidarity with the accused immigrants of Amygdaleza | Call for solidarity at the court Monday, 3rd of November, Degleri Court (Alexandras Ave.)

Monday the 3rd of November is the court date for the immigrants accused for the Amygdaleza uprising. In August of 2013, immigrants in Amygdaleza started a riot when they heard that they were going to be held there indefinitely longer. During and after the riot 65 immigrants were arrested and are now facing serious charges. A year after the incident, some of them are captives in various prisons across the country, some of them are still being kept in detention centers while others are free (5 of the escapees were never arrested) or have been deported.

Some words regarding being held in a detention centre:

“Detention centres are the way the greek state and police have come up with to torture migrants. Lots of them go crazy even by thinking that they are in there without knowing when their captivity will end. In there, nothing is provided, the only thing you can do is to sleep. The summer heat is unbearable. The food is bad and too little. They do not give us medicine, clothes and, even when someone is sick, the ones deciding whether they must see a doctor or not is are cops themselves, and they are always postponing it or do not care at all. The migrants cannot contact their families, since they do not have any phones, while visiting hours last only a little or are not being held at all, depending on the cops. Moving people around is a regular form of punishment, making it even harder for us to get in touch with our own people. They treat us like objects, like we are not humans. We demand the immediate change of such conditions.”

But even outside the walls, what migrants are facing seems like a giant prison:

“When we left our countries, we believed that we would at least continue to live freely. But we lost our freedom the moment we arrived in Greece, even though getting in meant that we risked losing our lives at the open sea, like those who were drown at Farmakonisi and more recently at Mitilini. So after managing to get in, we found ourselves in a kind of a prison, a prison without walls. They deny us the right to work by utilizing ancient and racist laws. Cops, fascists, racists hunt us in the streets. And they do not hunt only us working around ASOEE. This is happening also at Monastiraki, Thisio, Omonia, and the neighborhoods where we live in. We live every day under the threat of being imprisoned, or taken to a police station or to the detention centres. Cops often stop and search us as much as three times per day, and they harass us by taking us to the police station to eventually let us go. For the media we are thieves, murderers, disease bearers.”

The riot of Amigdaleza detention center is a bright act of resistance against the everyday war that the greek state is fighting against immigrants. A war that includes murders at the border, deportations, imprisonment in detention centers and in police stations, denial of asylum requests, racist laws, constant police controls, labor exploitation, pushing migrants to the limits of despair.

The only solution for us is to find ways to live together and act united against what is happening and what will come. Together immigrants and locals with no hierarchies, no discriminations due to race, sex or color stand, to fight against any kind fascist or police brutality for a better tomorrow. Our weapons are solidarity and equality.

 

Solidarity with the captive migrants and to everyone oppressed

No detention centres anywhere, ever.

Call for solidarity at the court
Monday, 3rd of November, Degleri Court (Alexandras Ave.)

LIBERATION of the 12 arrested MIKROFONIKI thissio 22/4 17:00 / DEMONSTRATION Evelpidon 23/4 12:00

asoee en ba

In the last month the police have been showing off their power in the university of ASOEE. Everyday, all kinds of cops stand around the university in order to frighten us and make us stop selling on the pavement in front of ASOEE. As the municipal elections are approaching, the candidates are trying to prove who will be the most effective in “restoring the order in the centre of Athens”, who will be stricter towards us, the immigrants, towards the students and everybody who stands everyday next to us.

On 8/04, the police surrounded the university once again. Groups of DELTA who were supported by MAT, chased and hit many people, without any reason. As a result, 12 immigrants and 1 student were arrested. The trial was postponed on 23/04. Τhe student was set free, but the 12 immigrants are still in prison after police order.

The cops enforced racist administrative laws (presidential decree 113/2013, law 3386/2005) and they considered them as “a danger to public order and security”. The police can arrest an immigrant, even in cases that he/she has official identity, accuse him/her for whatever they want (as they very well know how to do) and then decide that this arrest makes him/her “a danger to public order or national security” and therefore they lead him/her to detention and deportation
When we left our countries, we believed that we would at least continue to live free. But we lost our liberty, since we arrived in Greece, even if coming to Greece meant that we would risk losing our lives at sea, like those who were drown in Farmakonisi or, not long ago, in Mitilini. So when we arrived here, we found ourselves in a kind of a prison, a prison without walls. They say lies about us by using racist campaigns of misinformation. According to the media, we are thieves, murderers, carriers of diseases. They enforce racist and outdated laws and they don’t let us work. The cops, the fascists and racists chase us in the streets. And it’s not only around ASOEE. It’s also Monastiraki, Thissio, Omonia, in all our neighbourhoods. We live everyday under the threat of imprisonment either in a police station or in a camp centre. The period of detention is increasing: at first, it was 3 months, then it was 6, 9 months and now it is 18 months or even more.

By making these constant police operations outside the university, they forbid us to sell there, which is the only way for us to survive. It is the only way to earn some money, to pay our rent, the bills for water and electricity and to pay our food.

Greece hasn’t understood that we, the immigrants, are not a problem. But we can become their problem.

MIKROFONIKI  thissio 22/4 17:00
DEMONSTRATION  Evelpidon 23/4 12:00

LIBERATION of the arrested
COMMUNITIES OF STRUGGLE until every immigrant is liberated

assembly of immigrants & solidarians of asoee
thursdays at 20:00

Greece, a living hell

In the last two weeks the police have been showing off  their power in the University of  ASOEE. Everyday, all kinds of cops stand around the university in order to frighten us and to make us stop selling on the pavement in front of ASOEE. As the municipal elections are approaching, the candidates are trying to prove who will be the most effective in restoring the order in the centre of Athens, who will be stricter towards us, the immigrants, against the students who stand everyday next to us.

When we left our countries, we believed that we would at least continue to live free. But we lost our liberty, since we arrived in Greece, even if coming in Greece meant that we would risk losing our lives at sea, like those who were drown in Farmakonisi or, not long ago, in Mitilini. So when we arrived here, we found ourselves in a kind of prison, a prison without walls. By using racist and outdated laws they don’t let us work. The cops, the fascists and racists hunt us in the streets. And it’s not only around Asoee. It’s also Monastiraki, Thissio, Omonoia, in all our neighborhoods.  We live everyday under the threat of imprisonment either in a police station or in a detention centre. They say lies about us using racist campaigns of misinformation. According to the media, we are thieves, murderers, carriers of diseases.

And now, by using these constant police operations outside the university, they forbid us to sell on the street, which is the only way for us to survive. This is the only way to earn some money, to pay our rent, the bills for water and electricity and to pay our food. What we want is to be able to live with dignity by our own labour.

If without having official identities we can’t work, we can’t go outside our homes, we can’t be incorporated, we can’t have medical care, why don’t they just burn us alive?

We are not thieves, murderers, rapists. We hear everywhere that the “third world” countries are not civilized. However, in these countries, we don’t see this hatred against foreigners, not so many detention centers, not so many border fences, not so many drowned by naval police. Greece seems to be one of the last countries that doesn’t understand that we, the immigrants, are not a problem. We want a world without discrimination, injustice, racism, rich or poor. We, who live everyday by struggling against the police brutality, against the violence of our oppressors, who struggle to survive, are not the problem. But we can become their problem.

 Cops, stay away

Police everywhere – Justice nowhere


Communities of struggle of locals and immigrants in ASOEE and everywhere

Assembly of immigrants and solidarians of ASOEE

http://immigrants-asoee.espivblogs.net

every Thursday at 20:00