GFMD Greece

“They treat us worse than animals here, but I have to

work to send some money to my family so they can

survive.”

These are the all-too familar words of brother Farhad, a Bangladeshi Muslim migrant worker as he sells toys sitting on the street on a cold Athens night.

From November 1-5, the Global Forum on Migration and Development and the parallel People’s Global Action was held in Athens, Greece. As a member of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, DRUM Executive Director, Monami Maulik, joined migrant rights organizations from around the world at this historic event to advocate for the full rights of migrants globally. The Global Forum is a annual meeting of governments to decide migration policy and border policies around the world. However, migrant people’s voices and organizations are almost excluded. Thus, grassroots migrant groups hold parallel activities and put forth demands from migrant communities to protect our human rights.

Migrants in the Global North

Over 2 million of Greece’s total population of 10 million are foreign migrant workers. The largest group of immigrants here are: Albanians, Somalis & Africans, Bangaldeshis, Pakistanis, and most recently Iraqi refugees. A large portion of these are undocumented of “illegal” migrants. Greece’s migration policy and attitude towards migrants seems worse than most European countries and the U.S. There is an open sentiment of racism and hatred towards foreign migrants. In the last 10 years, over 25,000 African migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean Sea, most of whose bodies were never found. The Greek government has suspended asylum since 2005. Migrants work the hardest jobs such as farm labor, informal labor, and cleaning homes. Police stops migrants everyday on the street to ask for papers. Large packs of riot gear armed police roam around every immigrant area only, often yelling at people to get off the street and go inside. If they do not have any, they are jailed from a few days to 2 years and deported. Conditions in the jails are horrific with frequent beatings. Last year, 10 migrants were trampled to death waiting on line at the immigration office- because there is only one in the whole country.

Ammonia: South Asian Migrant Neighborhood Site Visit

Monami Maulik (DRUM) with members of the Pakistani and Bangaldeshi organizations.

Bangladeshi migrants waiting for day labor work in Athens next to the Acropolis.

Bangladeshi migrant street vendors selling toys on the street.

Bangladeshis

There are over 30,000 Bangladeshi migrants in Greece. Many migrants come by road or fly to Turkey and then walk to Greece. Monami interviewed a young Bangladeshi street vendor named Farhad who told her:

“I left my village in Meherpur District in Bangladesh so I can make money to help my family. I went by foot and trucks from Bangladesh to Afghanistan, through Iran, then Turkey, then Greece. The journey was very hard and took four months. I had to pay someone 10 lakh Taka ($20,000). I sell toys on the street here because we cannot get papers and there are no jobs. I sell from 9:00 in the morning to 11:00 at night, even in the cold. I make a little money, enough to send back something to my family. But this country is very hard. They look down on us as not humans. The police target us all the time. They take your things, throw them away, take you to jail, and deport you if you don’t have papers. There is no to complain to here, no one cares what happens to us.”

Monami also interviewed Mr. Farouk Hossein, President of Bangaldesh Doel Cultural Association in Athens. She later gave a speech at the Bangladeshi Center where a site visit was held by participants from around the world. Mr. Hossein began the first Bangladeshi organization here are spoke of the issues the community faces:

“There are more than 12,000 undocumented Bangladeshi migrants here. Most work in small garment factories and housecleaning here. The average pay is only about 30 Euros a day ($45) for 12 hours of work. Refugees can get a “Red Card” here which allows you to work for six months. Very few people get this because you must prove that you rent a home, which costs about 1,000 Euros per month and we cannot afford this. Also, in order to rent a home, you must first show your Red Card. Even if you get a Red Card, you must renew it every six months. If you lose your job for some time, they will not renew your Red Card. Most immigrants here cannot speak Greek, which is needed to work and get a driver’s license. Even though most Greeks speak English, which we can speak better, they will speak to us only in Greek. Our association takes care of the needs of the community, lets us celebrate our culture, language, and history. We raise all the funds ourselves. We advocate for our community by meeting with the government to seek better treatment.”

Pakistanis

Monami spoke with Mr. Anwar Hussein, Gen. Secretary of PAG. He told the similar story of Pakistanis and the anti-Muslim policies of Europe:

“There is so much hatred for Muslim in Greece and Europe. The Greek church and government does not allow us to have a Mosque (Masjid) in public! We must hide our masjid under a store. Even when we come out of the Masjid, dozens of police officers walk around us and harass us like we are terrorists. My wife and child are in Pakistan because I do not want them to come here in such bad conditions. Last year, a container with 50 dead bodies of Pakistani migrants was found at the border. Over 250 dead bodies were found at the Greek border in the last year. When a migrant dies here, the Greek government charges 2,000 Euros to send the body back to Pakistan. We must collect the money as a community to send the body back. Our organization goes to the police station regularly. We are going today to try to release 12 Pakistani’s arrested in an immigration raid. When we do not go, they are treated very badly, cannot afford a lawyer, and are just deported. We raise money to help get a lawyer and fight for their release. Pakistanis are being strongly targeted now with the U.S. War on Terror spreading to Pakistan. We are looked at with special hatred and racism everywhere worldwide.”

A mosque is hidden under stores as authorities will not allow it to be built.