Muslims in Athens continue to attend services and pray despite continued attacks.
Over 500 foreigners have been attacked in the last 6 months in Greece. |
| Umar Vakas from Pakistan, aged 23 while praying, in a Muslim community place that was attacked last Wednesday. |
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| Pashtoon Mirues, aged 23, shows a stone with signs of blood, a few meters away from where the young Iraqi was murdered. |
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| Signs of blood on the pavement, at the point where the Iraqi migrant was killed in central Athens. |
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| Signs of blood on the pavement, at the point where the Iraqi migrant was killed in central Athens. |
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| Umar Vakas from Pakistan, aged 23 while praying, in a Muslim community place that was attacked last Wednesday. |
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| Nazir (L) aged 36, while praying, in a Muslim community place that was attacked last Wednesday. |
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| Men gather to pray for Ramadan,in a Muslim community place that was attacked last Wednesday. |
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| Men gather to pray for Ramadan,in a Muslim community place that was attacked last Wednesday. |
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| Men gather to pray for Ramadan,in a Muslim community place that was attacked last Wednesday. |
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| Men gather to pray for Ramadan,in a Muslim community place that was attacked last Wednesday. |
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| Men gather to pray for Ramadan,in a Muslim community place that was attacked last Wednesday. |
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| Men gather to pray for Ramadan,in a Muslim community place that was attacked last Wednesday. |
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| Men gather to pray for Ramadan,in a Muslim community place that was attacked last Wednesday. |
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| Umar Vakas from Pakistan, aged 23, shows the marks of the wounds caused by the attack. |
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| Shabaz Ahmad from Pakistan aged 26, shows to the camera, where in his face he was beaten and sent to hospital, two years ago. |
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| Javied Aslam is the President of the Pakistan Community in Greece and the President of Migrant Workers Union, while been interviewed, under the Acropolis in Athens. |
A 19-year-old Iraqi died in an Athens hospital on Sunday after being attacked late on Saturday night in Athens center, (Anaxagora street), by five unknown persons riding motorcycles, police said.
A statement said the young Iraqi, "died in hospital of injuries sustained from a sharp object".
The attack came after a huge police operation to clear cities of illegal immigrants.
For this Police operation under the code name “Xenios Zeus”, Jezerca Tigani, who is Europe and Central Asia Deputy Programme Director of Amnesty International, has said on Wednesday, 08/08/2012:
“While Greece has the right to control migration, it does not have the right to treat people in the street like criminals purely because of the colour of their skin.”
INTERVIEWS:
Pashtoon Mirues, aged 23, has come in Greece from Agfganistan some years ago, and now he is working on a restaurant.
He shows a stone with signs of blood, a few meters away from where the young Iraqi was murdered , on Sunday dawn, in Athens center.
An eyewitness told him that he saw someone hitting the young Iraqi on the head with this stone.
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Umar Vakas from Pakistan, aged 23 has come to pray for Ramadan in the private underground place they have rented for gathering and speaking about their culture in Piraeus area.
Athens is the only European capital that does not have a mosque yet.
Last Wednesday at 10:00 p.m. about 15-20 people, attacked the place and threw smoke canisters at the entrance. At that time Umar and four other Pakistanis were inside. Umar went up the stairs and one of the attackers hit him with his fist, throwing him down the stairs.
Umar shows the marks of the wounds caused by the attack.
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Shabaz Ahmad from Pakistan aged 26, was attacked by a group of about 25 young men two years ago in the street.
He remembers it was again the month of Ramadan .
He was beaten in the face with an iron object, a knuckle duster, while he was walking for his home, after the prayers at about 8pm.
He was taken to hospital with a fractured bone in the eye.
While speaking, he shows to the camera, where in his face he was beaten.
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Nazir aged 36, is from Pakistan and he is living in Greece for the last 14 years having all the legal documents.
He asks me: “Why do these attacks take place?”
“Now people are afraid of the attacks and do not gather here…
My family is in Pakistan.
I have two children 2 and 4 years old. I earn 720 euros every month from my job, where I work as a warehouseman. I cannot bring my family in Greece. I pay all my bills here, and any money left over, I send them to Pakistan to live my family.
Vast majority of Pakistan people, cannot afford having their families here, life is expensive and salaries are going down as Greece has economic crisis.
Many Pakistanis take the way back home because of the crisis.”
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Javied Aslam is the President of the Pakistan Community in Greece and the President of Migrant Workers Union.
He is speaking to me in an appointment we have in Thiseio, a neighbourhood in downtown Athens, northwest of the Acropolis:
“Over 500 foreigners have been attacked in the last 6 months in Greece.
Migrant workers are transported to hospitals with broken bones.
Previously the attackers had bats and knuckle dusters.
Over the past two weeks the situation has evolved: the attacks are made with knives.
Police operation under the code name ‘Xenios Zeus’, is a racist operation.
Racists get power from this operation. Now on the streets many fascists hit us, they curse on us, they spit at us.
Greece must not become a jungle. Greece has to show respect for each every employee.
What we ask for, is the implementation of laws!
We believe that the police shows tolerance to the racist attacks.
Police do not care for immigrants who are under attack.
Quite the reverse, they do not want to hear that you will file a lawsuit.
If a migrant tries to sue a Greek, then police puts the immigrant in jail for two days at least, to make the migrant fear and force him not to file the lawsuit.
When we go to the police station and we say that we want to sue a Greek, policemen beat us.
This is fascism.
Police can beat you and commit crimes on you, while you are innocent and asking for justice and no one can protect you.
On June 23rd, about 45 Greeks attacked 3 immigrant houses in Marconi area in Athens, and the police have not arrested anyone of the perpetrators.
Quite the reverse, they arrested the victims of the attack, the Pakistani migrants.
Within the police departments, the followers of the far right party “Golden Dawn” have access, where they come and they curse on us, and they threaten us.
The attacks against places of prayer are very dangerous.
Because our culture imposes on us, that places of prayer, are more valuable than our lives.
We can not have bats.
For this reason we they beat us
Whoever can not beat us by himself, he sends the police to beat us.
We ask the Greek Government and Greek Police to implement justice and to protect us.”
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