Commentary 93 identified as an evil in Greek society, presenting a range of problems and dangers. The relationship between migrants in Greece and specific types of crime has become particularly prominent. The image of the migrant offender, or criminal ‘other’, has been consolidated and is now deeply embedded in Greek social consciousness. At the same time, there has been relatively little interest in the racist victimisation (or even other kinds of criminal victimisation) of migrants and other minorities in Greece. Since no official data on racist violence in Greece has been published, it is impossible to cite statistics on the number of racist crimes in the country.1 But, contrary to what the police usually argue, there have been a large number of racist incidents since the early 1990s. Examples include: . . . . . . . In October 1999, Pantelis Kazakos, a 25-year-old former security guard, killed two migrants, an Iraqi Kurd and a Georgian, and wounded five African and Asian migrants, who were left permanently disabled. When questioned on his motives, he replied that he simply did not like foreigners.2 In March 2000, a number of police officers got on a bus in Athens, shouting, ‘Albanians out now’. The police officers swore at the Albanian migrants, pushed them violently and demanded that they all get off the bus. In March 2000, in the prefecture of Ilia, a 70-year-old farmer shot and seriously injured a 26-year-old Romanian migrant because he thought he was trying to steal his animals.3 On 23 November 2000, a 57-year-old man in the village of Galatista in northern Greece killed two young Albanian migrants. The Albanian migrants were shot in the back while they were running and were also shot in the head at close range. The residents of the village commented that the perpetrator had always been fearful of Albanians.4 In October 2003, an Albanian schoolboy, whose outstanding marks earned him the distinction of carrying the Greek flag on a holiday parade, surrendered the honour after a hate campaign led by his classmates and their parents, who were angry that an immigrant was to bear the national colours.5 In November 2003, two Pakistanis were injured during a racist rampage by a motorcycle gang in Piraeus. A group of about twenty youths attacked a video rental shop, punching and abusing the owner and damaging property, before attacking another Pakistani at a nearby bus stop.6 In 2004, a Roma settlement in Aspropyrgos, on the north-western outskirts of Athens, was attacked by dozens of Greeks armed with axes, sticks and knives.7 Downloaded from http://rac.sagepub.com at Athens Univ. of Economics on June 25, 2007 © 2006 Institute of Race Relations. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.