{"id":11076,"date":"2021-01-26T21:11:09","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T19:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=11076"},"modified":"2021-02-15T14:39:54","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T12:39:54","slug":"interview-hard-won-victories-for-refugees-in-greece-how-ten-years-of-advocacy-and-incremental-changes-add-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2021\/01\/interview-hard-won-victories-for-refugees-in-greece-how-ten-years-of-advocacy-and-incremental-changes-add-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Hard-Won Victories for Refugees in Greece – How Ten Years of Advocacy and Incremental Changes Add Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humans Rights Watch<\/a><\/p>\n

by Amy Braunschweiger<\/a> and Eva Coss\u00e9<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A woman and her children sitting in Victoria Square in Athens, Greece, awaiting transfer, are among the thousands of refugees summarily evicted from their residence by the government. \u00a9 2020 AFP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In Greece, a recent high-profile court ruling and policy change mark momentous human rights victories for migrants and children. On October 7, an Athens court\u00a0ruled<\/a>\u00a0that the country\u2019s far-right xenophobic political party,\u00a0Golden Dawn<\/a>, whose members had seats in Parliament, was operating as a\u00a0criminal organization<\/a>. It also convicted some of its members of beating and even killing migrants, asylum seekers, and activists. Then, on December 10, Greece\u2019s parliament abolished the harmful practice of detaining asylum-seeking and migrant children who arrived in Greece without their parents or a guardian, in place since 2001. Amy Braunschweiger speaks with researcher\u00a0Eva Cosse<\/a>, who has tirelessly advocated on these issues for a decade, about this hard-won impact and what happens next.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When did you start working on these issues?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I began working on racist violence in Greece, together with my colleague Jude Sunderland, back in 2011. Racist violence\u00a0was widespread<\/a>. I\u2019m Greek, and I would go to my village and discuss my work with people, and no one was feeling the way I was feeling, horrified by the fact that people with a different skin color, women, children, were walking on the streets of Athens and getting beaten for the way they looked. Then, in 2012, Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi anti-immigrant party won 6.92 percent of the votes and entered parliament for the first time. It was shocking. I felt ashamed \u2013 this was happening in my country.<\/p>\n

What happened after you published your first report on racist violence in Greece in 2012?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Initially, the government\u00a0turned a blind eye to what<\/a>\u00a0was happening, saying \u201cGreece is known for its hospitality.\u201d But during a hearing in the Greek parliament in November 2012, where we presented findings on xenophobic violence, one ruling party parliamentarian called foreigners coming to Greece \u201ccockroaches\u201d. Also, people who went to report such violence were arrested or intimidated by authorities, or even threatened with deportation.<\/p>\n

But the release of our report coincided with the time Golden Dawn entered parliament, and suddenly all European and international media wanted to talk about it.<\/p>\n

We spent much of the next year advocating for change. We published something on every development on racist violence I was able to investigate and sent briefings to European decision-makers visiting Greece. I did media interviews. I met with people in Brussels, and in Greece had meeting after meeting with ministers and police.<\/p>\n