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O 131351Z MAR 09 ZDK CTG NUMEROUS SVCS
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3366
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000315 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS TO EUR/SE, PRM/ECA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF KCRM GR SMIG
SUBJECT: GREECE: NEW WAVE OF MIGRANT PROTESTS ON POLICE 
TREATMENT, ASYLUM 
 
REF: A. ATHENS 215 
     ¶B. ATHENS 154 
     ¶C. ATHENS 114 
 
ATHENS 00000315  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  In the latest incident in a series of 
violent immigrant-police confrontations, police clashed with 
approximately 70 illegal migrants in the port town of Patras 
on March 3.  Media reported that an illegal migrant was 
injured attempting to stow away on a truck bound for Italy. 
When other migrants began attacking the driver, police 
responded with tear gas.  This incident follows multiple 
altercations between immigrants and police at the Petrou 
Ralli police station in Athens, where asylum applications are 
processed.  Media reported that immigrants participated in 
the countrywide December 2008 riots, and in January Afghan 
immigrants demonstrated against police evictions in Athens. 
In addition, a left-wing pro-immigrant NGO was the target of 
a hand grenade attack on February 24.  Greece faces sharp 
increases in migration and refugees, with over 140,000 
illegal immigrants detained in 2008. With a deficient asylum 
process and an overwhelmed and poorly-trained police force, 
continued violent clashes between immigrants and police are 
likely, and may escalate as numbers of illegal migrants 
increase.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The March 3 clash between police and illegal 
immigrants erupted in Patras, a western port town where 
thousands of migrants from the Middle East, East Africa, and 
Central Asia attempt to stow away on trucks and ferries bound 
for Italy.  The altercation began when an illegal migrant was 
injured attempting to stow away on a truck and dozens of 
other migrants immediately began throwing stones at the 
driver.  Police responded with tear gas and two officers and 
a bystander were injured in the clash.  Tensions between 
migrants and truck drivers had already been simmering prior 
to this incident: On February 23, Greek truck drivers blocked 
the Patras port protesting a lack of police enforcement 
against the stowaways, who have been accused of destroying 
goods and battling drivers in their attempts to board the 
trucks.  An Embassy officer witnessed these boardings on 
March 1: Afghani, Pakistani, and Iraqi migrants waited in 
groups beside the road as freight trucks drove towards the 
ferries, and as the trucks slowed the migrants attempted to 
climb aboard.  Some truck drivers tried to brake and 
accelerate to shake the migrants off, while another driver 
took a bat, exited his cab, and physically threatened the 
stowaways.  Unsuccessful migrants simply regrouped and 
attempted to board the next available truck.  No police were 
present in the area.  In recent days, media outlets have 
shown video footage of such boardings, raising the public 
profile of migrant-police clashes. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Illegal migrants regularly clash with police at 
the Petrou Ralli police station in Athens, the only location 
in Greece where migrants can file applications for asylum. 
Hundreds of migrants queue for hours outside of the police 
station, and only a minority are allowed inside to file for 
asylum -- the rest are forced to leave by police.  Two 
Pakistani migrants died falling into a ravine near the 
queues, one on October 26 and another on January 3, and 
migrants blamed the deaths on police crowd control efforts. 
Other violent clashes occurred at Petrou Ralli on November 28 
and February 19, with migrants demanding better police 
treatment and freer access to apply for asylum.  Major human 
rights NGOs and international organizations have routinely 
criticized the Greek government for its asylum procedures at 
Petrou Ralli -- in a February 4 report, the Council of 
Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights noted "grave, systemic 
deficiencies" in the Greek asylum process and reported that 
Greece granted asylum in only 0.03 percent of first-instance 
cases during the first eight months of 2008.  According to 
the UNHCR, from 2006 to 2007 asylum applications in Greece 
increased 105 percent, rising from 12,267 to 25,113. 
However, while the number of illegal migrants detained in 
Greece continued to rise, from 2007 to 2008 asylum 
applications fell 21 percent, to 19,884 -- a decrease that 
some NGOs attribute to the deterrence effect of the low 
asylum approval rate.  (NOTE: Foreign press has focused on 
this issue, too.  Aljazeera posted a two-minute video 
examining the plight of asylum seekers and the situation 
outside Petrou Ralli, at this link: 
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe 
/2009/02/2009221155152736943.html.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶4.  (U) During the December 2008 riots following the death of 
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, Greek media reported 
that illegal immigrants participated in looting shops in 
Athens.  In January, Afghan migrants demonstrated in the 
Patissia neighborhood of Athens, protesting squalid living 
conditions and frequent police raids and evictions.  Many 
 
ATHENS 00000315  002 OF 002 
 
 
Afghans in Patissia are either homeless or live in crowded 
ramshackle apartment buildings, often lacking running water 
and electricity.  Local residents subsequently demanded that 
the government provide shelter for the migrants, while 
right-wing groups organized protests insisting that the 
Afghans leave the area.  In addition, police suspect armed 
right-wing groups in a February 24 hand grenade attack on a 
leftist NGO, the Network of Social Support for Refugees and 
Migrants.  While no one was injured, media reports state that 
police are concerned that this attack may herald increased 
violence between rightists and immigrant-friendly 
organizations. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Given the recent spate of terrorist 
attacks, anarchist violence, and public demonstrations here 
in Greece (see REFTELs A and B), increased tension between 
frustrated migrants and an overburdened police force is a 
worrisome trend.  The Greek government has been roundly 
criticized by major NGOs and IOs for its poor treatment of 
refugees and asylum seekers, but at the same time is 
shouldering a growing illegal migration burden.  The Hellenic 
Police has low morale and lacks training and political 
support (see REFTEL C), and Greek officials note that they 
have seen little increase in assistance from the EU.  As a 
result, more frequent clashes between migrants and police are 
likely.  We will report on the situation in Patras in more 
detail SEPTEL.  END COMMENT. 
SPECKHARD