ANNUAL POLICY REPORT 2012 residents and visitors of Athens. This operation also aims to suppress any other relevant illegal activity, such as illegal trade, prostitution, drug trafficking and organized mendicancy23. On 31.12.2012 a Press Release of the Hellenic Police was issued stating that, as far as the fight against illegal immigration is concerned, police checks in the Athens city center under Operation 'Xenios Zeus' resulted in the custody of 65,766 aliens and the arrest of 4,145 foreigners for not fulfilling the legal conditions of residence in the country. Also, an undeniable significant reduction in third country nationals’ illegal entries after August 2012 was observed compared to both the relevant statistics of the previous months of the same year and the statistics of the respecting months in 2011, which the Hellenic Police attributed to operation 'Xenios Zeus'. It would be useful however to examine the developments at other border crossing points of the country during the same period of time. On a political level, "Operation Xenios Zeus' was strongly criticized (20.08.2012) from the main Opposition Party (SYRIZA), which referred to “lasting pogroms”24. Τhe statements of the President of DIM.AR., the left partner of the "National Responsibility" government, at the beginning of operations, are also worth noting 25. Moreover, during the reference year the increase in incidents of attacks against foreigners, including tourists of Asian or African origin, had international impact26 and ultimately led to the signing of the PD 132/2012 "Establishment of Departments and Offices Against Racist Violence – Modification of provisions of PD 14/2001" (GG A 239/11-12-2012), as well as the launch of a special hotline for reporting incidents and complaints of racist violence ("11414"), which operates on a 24 hour basis and ensures anonymous and confidential communications. Another important issue in 2012 regarding the fight against illegal immigration, which was directly related to the effectiveness of the Operation 'Xenios Zeus' at 23 Press Release Headquarters Hellenic Police 04/08/2012. http://www.syriza.gr/%CE%B4%CE%AE%CE%BB%CF%89%CF%83%CE%B724 %CE%B2%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%BB%CE%B5%CF%85%CF%84%CF%8E%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85-%CF%83%CF%85%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%B6%CE%B1%CE%B5%CE%BA%CE%BC-%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CF%84%CE%B7/ 25 http://www.dimokratikiaristera.gr/epikairotita/synentefkseis/3663-synentefksi-tou-proedrou-tisdimar-foti-kouveli-stin-efimerida-kathimerini-tis-kyriakis-kai-to-dimosiografo-konstantino-zoyla. For the stance of DIMAR and PASOK see also Interview of the Minister of Public Order and Citizen Protection Mr. N. Dendias in the show of SKAI "First Line", 6.8.2012, (http://www.mopocp.gov.gr/index.php?option=ozo_content&lang=&perform=view&id=4324&Itemid=551 ) 26 Examples include the Directive of the U.S. Embassy in Athens, US Embassy Athens Greece, Security Message for US citizens: Safety and Security in Greece, 16.11.2012 (http://photos.state.gov/libraries/greece/38517/uscitizens/ sec_message_greece.pdf). Case reports recorded in parliamentary questions (question 1476/10-9-2012, sp 4468/28-11-2012) in specialized magazines (MigrationNewsheetJuly 2012, November 2012), and specific proposals to the competent authorities reflected in the report of RacistViolenceRecordingNetwork (October 2012) (http://www.unhcr.gr/fileadmin/Greece/News/2012/pr/ConclusionsOctober2012EN.pdf) 20