The Tragedy of The Greeks
By Atharva Pandit
04 September, 2014
Countercurrents.org
An article on the current state of immigrants in Greece, attention on whom has increased after the judgement handed out by the High Court, acquitting three farmers who had shot a group of over 100 fruit-pickers in April 2013
The Greeks certainly had their fun with their mythological-philosophical definitions of how, indeed, should the Nation and State function, and their political philosophers went on to give us the modern way to political and social existence, and that way, the Greeks are distinguished in their history, but, unfortunately for them, the future doesn't seem to hold the same. Least, the future conceptions of how a Democracy should function will certainly not take their inspiration from the Greeks- maybe the future will tilt towards its definition of Resistance and Revolt by getting influenced from the Arab Spring, and the progressive Democratic way of living they can pick up from Japan, but not the Greeks anymore, they are out of the game. I write this because the Greeks have been plying forth such way by displaying a heady mixture of popular opinion tilting towards neo-Nazi parties, to the Greeks’ judiciary falling short of delivering justice to the oppressed.
Such as the events and accusations go, some hundred odd immigrant workers were shot at by three farmers, in possession of shotguns and pistol. The assailants were supposedly guards who had known the immigrant fruit-pickers (strawberry-pickers, to be precise) for the past couple of months, and verbally abused them as the workers went about toiling on the fruit farm. The workers weren't paid even their measly sum, and they argued that they needed the money since half of it goes back to their homes in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt and all those Asian and North African countries from where immigrants land in Greece in order to pick up an odd job, and the other half they needed to survive in Greece, reaching where they had opted for dangerous routes, hitchhiking illegally through different countries, clinging on to the desperate hope that their traffickers knew what they were doing, and where they were leading them. Some had spent their savings arriving in Europe in the hope that their life as they knew it back in their own countries would change once they migrate, but for an immigrant, especially for an exceptionally poor immigrant, such dreams are rarely fulfilled. Instead, what these migrant workers, working for the wealthy fruit producer, Nikos Vangelatos, got in response were bullets skimming past them as they ran for their life helplessly throughout the farms, shouting for someone to help. “When they started firing, and the shot and bullets began to fly, we all started howling and crying, ‘Help’, ‘help’,” tells one fruit-picker, Tipu Chowdhury from Bangladesh, to Helena Smith, as he relates to her his poignant story in The Guardian. He further relates that after the firing, the assailants fled, and he proceeded to call police and medical help, which did arrive quickly. The shooting, one of the worst in violence against immigrants in European history, and the first in Greece since the March 6, 1910 incident in Kileler, where workers clashed with the landowners in protest against the latter’s privileges while the curtailing of rights for the former. That incident resulted in the deaths of four farmers, while many were left wounded. But over a Century turned, and Greece had reported no act of violence against workers, until that fateful day in April. If that day in April 2013 was a dark, nightmarish one for the immigrant workers in Greece, July 29th turned out to be worst, as a High Court acquitted the owner of the farm, and the three which were involved in the shooting, even as they had confessed to their crime. All the charges against them were cleared.
This was gross violation of human rights for the migrant workers, racism and emotions against whom have fueled in recent years, with the rise of rightwing party politics in Greece, the Golden Dawn heading this sphere of influence. Headed by Nikolaos Michaloliakos, Golden Dawn has been termed as a fascist party, racist and highly violent in its activities. The party did obtain 7% votes in the 2012 national elections, which was a significant increase for the neo-Nazis, and was partly due to their campaigning on the burning issues of unemployment and economic meltdown, although it is also argued that the party obtained their popularity, in part, because of their rightwing activity, including the alleged murder of Pavlos Fyssas, a rapper whose songs leaned towards anti-Fascism. Recent comments by the Party spokesperson, gushing about Hitler and his “great personality”, have not gone down well with the Greeks, but it certainly points towards the Party’s ultra-nationalist motives. Ever since August 2012, reports have been trickling in about immigrants becoming the targets of racism, with verbal attacks giving way to “rods and brass-knuckles, and now knives are coming out,” according to Javied Aslam, who heads the Pakistani Community organization in Greece, speaking to Reuters. That was in 2012. Come 2014, knives have now been converted into shotguns, while justice has turned frail. Back in 2012, according to statistical reports, about 500 immigrant workers, mostly from Asia, were attacked in various isolated incidents, and it pointed towards the rise of anti-immigrant feelings within the Greek community, the blame of which can be pinned on the frustration of the people due to economic crisis in a debt-ridden Greece, where the employment problems quickly fireballed into a series of protest demonstrations against the Samaras government.
Tough illegal migration laws in countries such as Italy and Germany have made it difficult for smugglers and migrants to work inside those countries, so they land up in Greece, the gateway to Europe. That makes Greece a country, itself crawling under economic burdens, a hotbed for illegal immigrants, and these attacks against them, and more seriously, the denial of justice to them in Greece has created an irony of sorts. When we think of Greece, we are prone to think of, in the words of Christopher Hitchens, “the theater of Euripides and Sophocles and philosophy and politics- specifically democratic politics”, but not after the July verdict, which was unfair and pretty biased, even though the case was sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Workers’ unions, human rights associations and organizations working for the welfare of migrants will launch a campaign this week, and will assemble for a mass demonstration at Thessaloniki, where the Greek Prime Minister will be giving his speech on Greece’s economic policy on the occasion of the international trade fair. Many doubt that the demonstrations will being any firm outcome for, and this is a very big hurdle to cross, most of those which were attacked last April, and most of those who now live in makeshift camps and hastily assembled tents are without papers, which means they have no identity in the country. Even though the migrants don’t have a bad word against Greece, for the country of Socrates has, after all, provided to them a chance to work and gain their livelihood, the nation doesn't seem to recognize their contribution as rightwing neo-Nazi parties continue to attack the immigrant community and the government continues to ignore them. For Greece, people like Tipu Chowdhury have, unfortunately, ceased to exist.
Atharva Pandit is a FYBA student at Ruia College, Mumbai, tackling through subjects as distinct as English Literature, Political Science and Philosophy, and remain an infrequent contributor on international politics to two of the best magazines catering to the voice of the youth: 'Youth ki Awaaz' and 'The Indian Economist'.
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