On 13 March 2011, 300 migrants won a hard-fought struggle against the Greek government. The migrants, most of whom faced deportation to North Africa, began a hunger strike at the end of January in protest at the refusal to grant them documentation to remain in Greece.
Their demands were:
• The immediate legalisation of the 300 undocumented workers on hunger strike;
• The legalisation of all undocumented workers;
• The abrogation of the Dublin II Regulation which puts the lives of migrants in danger by turning immigration detention in some countries into warehouses where violence and human rights violation are commonplace. (Under the Regulation asylum seekers can be returned to the first EU country they entered. Due to its geographical location, Greece is commonly a first country.)
Over 100 of the migrants were hospitalised towards the end of the 44-day hunger strike, many on the brink of death. With huge worldwide publicity, the government caved in and granted visas for them to remain in the country. This was a victory and an important step towards meeting the migrants’ demands. In a statement on 13 March they said ‘With the documents in hand and our heads up high, we return to our homes and our work, vindicated after 44 days on hunger strike.’
History of exploitation
The protesting migrants have lived and worked in Greece for up to seven years. According to The Guardian on 28 February: ‘They picked olives and oranges; they looked after the old and the sick; they worked on building sites and orchards for a fraction of the minimum wage. After years of exploitation and humiliation, they are now told they are no longer wanted because of the economic crisis…they are deemed to be surplus to requirements, to be disposed of like refuse.’
Many Greek citizens, appalled at the conditions of the migrants and inspired by their struggle, took to the streets in solidarity. The state responded brutally: demonstrators in Athens were attacked by riot police; eight members of the ‘Initiative for Solidarity with the 300 Hunger Strikers’ were arrested and accused of human trafficking, and police interrogated doctors and nurses at the hospital where some of the migrants were located.
Initially, the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement government refused to meet the migrants’ demands. Minister for Foreign Affairs Dimitris Droutsas not only disclaimed all responsibility for the hunger strikers, but accused those standing in solidarity with the migrants for putting their lives in danger.
Solidarity continued despite police repression. Protesters occupied state buildings and there were interventions and demonstrations on TV and radio stations nationwide. Many Greek workers, facing drastic cuts as the government seeks to deal with the capitalist crisis and pay off its debt to the EU (see FRFI 218), realised that the migrants were in the front line of the fightback for all workers and that this was why the Greek ruling class and government were seeking to quell their struggle.
The Greek government claims it supports human rights but the treatment of migrant workers shows this to be a lie. In January the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that sending refugees back to Greece amounted to torture and inhuman and degrading treatment because of the appalling conditions of detention in immigration camps.
EU racism
Although the ECtHR has condemned Greece, the EU has refused to do so. European leaders have turned a blind eye to the brutality of the Greek state, pleased that Greece is policing Europe’s border with Africa. The people of North Africa have risen up against their own oppressive regimes; we must also support their struggles against racism in European countries. This is not a just a fight for the workers of the oppressed countries, it is a fight for all workers seeking to end the exploitation and injustice of the imperialist system. As the migrants said in their statement: ‘The struggle is the only option. The struggle against the daily exploitation and racism’s walls, the struggles for the legalisation of all migrants with no prerequisites, for equal rights between local and foreign workers, for a life with values and dignity, these are our next steps. Together with the anti-racist and migrant movement we will walk along this difficult path, the path of struggle.’
Victory to the 300!*
Andrew Alexander
*The number 300 was a clever name used by the migrants, as for many Greeks it symbolises resistance. 300 was the number of Spartans who fought a last-ditch stand against the Persian army led by Xerxes at the pass of Thermopylae in 480BC. Vastly outnumbered, the Spartans withstood their enemy in a three-day battle. Although they were eventually betrayed and defeated, their example of resistance and sacrifice led the disparate Greek states to unite and vanquish their common enemy.
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 220 April/May 2011
