Asylum seekers and refugees in Greece
Recent stories
Decree limiting free movement deemed unlawful
The Council of State has deemed unlawful a presidential decree that stipulated that refugees from third countries with a legal resident permit could only settle in particular districts.
1 July 2006 (42 words)
Police brutality against Afghans in Athens
Amnesty International has demanded an investigation be held into reports that Greek police officers have subjected a group of Afghan asylum seekers to torture.
31 December 2004 (219 words)
ECRI says minorities need protection
ECRI has called upon the Greek government to do more to counter anti-Semitism and protect Roma.
22 November 2004 (151 words)
Amnesty International documents ill-treatment, even torture
In a report published in September, Amnesty International accused Greek police of regularly abusing, and even torturing, detainees, especially members of minority groups and undocumented workers.
24 September 2002 (121 words)
Deportation violence alleged
Joseph Emeka Okeke, a Nigerian pending expulsion from Greece, claims that officers beat him when he resisted their attempts to take him to Athens airport on 25 June 2001.
1 July 2002 (91 words)
Escape from Thrace detention centre
In June, police were searching for around seventy people who managed to escaped from a detention centre in the northeastern Thrace region in June.
25 June 2002 (117 words)
Police officer arrested
In April, a Greek police officer was arrested, and accused of helping to smuggle eighty illegal immigrants from Turkey to Greece.
12 April 2002 (29 words)
Taxi drivers protest police immigration controls
In April, hundreds of taxi drivers throughout Ioannina, northwestern Greece, staged strikes and demonstrations to protest at being penalised for carrying illegal immigrants.
3 March 2002 (80 words)
Greece forces back African refugees 'dumped' by Turkey
While the Turkish army has been forcing African refugees to cross into Greece, the Greek border police have responded with similar brutality, forcing the Africans back into Turkey.
1 October 2001 (453 words)
Islands report strains
Evia struggles to provide a welcome
1 October 2001 (94 words)
The human cost of illegal entry
Non-governmental organisations estimate that more than 200 migrants have lost their lives trying to enter Greece in the last eight years.
1 October 2001 (158 words)
Suspected immigrant smuggler shot dead
Oktay Deliktas, a 23-year-old Turk, was shot dead by coast guards after a chase in rough seas near the island of Kos.
1 October 2001 (54 words)
Paucity of asylum reception system criticised
The government only provides one refugee centre for asylum seekers, in Lavrio, 55km northeast of Athens.
1 October 2001 (207 words)
Big increase in border police
In April, the government announced that it will hire more than 1,800 new border guards over the next two years, due partly to the escalating conflict in neighbouring Macedonia and parts of southern Serbia.
1 October 2001 (51 words)
Treatment of Iranian refugees condemned
The International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR) has condemned the government for its treatment of 13 Iranian asylum seekers arrested outside the UNHCR in Athens.
1 October 2001 (160 words)
Trafficking - tough stance following Schengen agreement
Since Greece joined the EU's Schengen zone, the government has displayed a tougher attitude to illegal immigration.
1 January 2001 (83 words)
Kurds occupy Port of Patras after ferry tragedy
After at least ten Kurds perished when a fire broke out on a ferry sailing from Patras to Alcona, Italy, around 200 Kurds occupied the port of Patras demanding an investigation into the deaths and protesting against the traffickers who profit from the human trade.
1 March 2000 (111 words)
Four charged with illegal trafficking after boat seized in Crete
An estimated 167 Iraqi Kurds endured five days without food or water on a journey from Lebanon to Crete for which they each paid £1800.
1 March 1999 (88 words)
Boat comes ashore in Cyprus - two die in nightmare voyage
Two people died from hunger and thirst on a nightmare voyage at sea.
1 October 1998 (179 words)
Amnesty for undocumented workers
Responding to an amnesty for undocumented workers, whereby immigrants will be granted temporary work permits before being issued with renewable, two-year residence permits, more than 20000 refugees from Europe, Africa and Asia made applications over a five-day period.
1 May 1998 (87 words)
Related links
None