The Silent Humanitarian Crisis in Greece: Devising Strategies to Improve the Situation of Migrants in Greece WORKSHOP REPORT Input from Workshop Discussion Concerns on the Protection of Migrants in View of Increasing Racist Violence and Police Impunity • Lack of access to an effective and independent complaint mechanism, including procedural delays that can ultimately cause the complaint to be ‘timed-out’ by the statute of limitations, as well as an overwhelming fear of detention and deportation that overshadows the ability to report human rights violations. • Lack of access to legal representation, in order to fully pursue complaints and proper redress. • The legality of raid operations such as Xenios Zeus which were discriminatory and based on racial profiling resulting in migrants with legal documents being arrested and detained for several hours. • The role of the police in such operations and other incidents of violence, the lack of proper training and the fact that they themselves are often perpetrators of racist attacks who go unpunished is highly problematic. There is a systematic failings in police accountability. • Challenges in ensuring that cases are brought to court in order to create legal precedence and caselaw for re-occurring acts of racist violence. • The need to address and record incidents of criminalisation of assistance as currently civil servants risk being fined for providing support and assistance to irregular migrants. • Poor reporting and coverage of racist violence by mainstream media, which is partial and often encourages anti-immigrant sentiment. This owes partly to the lack of communication channels between the media and local NGOs and migrants but also because there is no resource person within government to Participants during parallel workshop session respond on such matters. on “Racist violence and police impunity “ Recommendations Through a group discussion, recommendations were developed to address racist violence and police impunity in Greece but also with the intention of enhancing collaboration between NGOs and law enforcement officials. 1. Liaising with the Pan Hellenic Coalition of Police on this issue as it is not only individual policemen and women who are perpetrating acts of racism but the institution itself that is liable for perpetrating and covering up racist attacks. 4. Keeping connected - Creation of a platform of NGOs working together with the aim of sharing information, gathering evidence and supporting common advocacy activities to raise awareness on migrants’ rights to impact policies and practical responses. 2. Developing a network of allies, which includes lawyers, to ensure that victims of racist violence are able to file their claims and access justice mechanisms so as to challenge the current culture of impunity for such acts. 5. Connecting with media – NGOs must develop clear messages as well as a database of facts and testimonies to share with journalists in order to ensure that the situation on the ground faced by migrants and their advocates is correctly reported. 3. Reaching out to the general public through awareness raising campaigns, traditional and social media on the realities faced by migrants and the obligations of the Greek state in order to address prejudice, existing resentment and fear. 20 6. Acknowledging that the phenomenon of racist violence is not limited to Greece - It is a pan-European phenomenon and thus all existing networks must join their resources and co-operate to combat it. Legal Strategies as Tools for Positive Change Greece has signed and ratified most European40 and international treaties upholding the rights of all human beings without discrimination. As a result, any policy or practice that is contrary to these laws can be challenged as unlawful. In Greece, as in many other contexts, it is not the lack of rights which is the cause of the problem, but the lack of information and knowledge about the existence of rights for migrants and the poor implementation and protection mechanisms which prevent migrants from enjoying them. Legal strategies are useful tools as a means of upholding rights but also as a means to raise awareness of key areas of concern regarding the implementation of these rights in practice. The development of case law is essential to continuously challenge the law in relation to the reality on the ground and for NGOs to expand their activities beyond project funded work. Strategic litigation can be a fruitful avenue to attract funding and partnerships with allies. 40 Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, EU Race Equality Directive, the Employment Equality Directive and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. The European Charter applies to all persons regardless of residence status apart from the articles explicitly narrowing the scope to European citizen. Appendix to the Revised Charter states that Articles 1 to 17 and 20 to 31 applies to foreigners “only in so far as they are nationals of other Parties lawfully resident or working regularly within the territory of the Party concerned”. Articles 18 and 19 do not require lawful presence for all aspects of these rights to be applicable although they only apply explicitly to nationals of contracting parties. 21