Greece: Anarchists March in Solidarity with Refugees and Immigrants

Greece: Anarchists March in Solidarity with Refugees and Immigrants

On Saturday, May 19, 2007, an anarchist/anti-authoritarian street march in solidarity with refugees and immigrants took place in Patras, a port city in Greece.

It began at about noon, leaving from Olga’s Square and going down the central streets of the city and districts in which mainly immigrants live.

Afterwards, it moved on to the harbor of the city (which can also be characterized as a concentration camp for refugees), where two surveillance cameras along its fencing were taken down and words were spray-painted on the façade of offices of the company ANEK Lines (a ferry service that plays a leading part in the deportations of immigrants in collaboration with the State).

Some 300-500 people took part in the march and immigrants made gestures of appreciation towards it.

Photos from the march are here: http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=707545

Text of a poster for the march –

Against the State and Capital

- that launch military operations and loot entire societies
- that fortify the borders of the “Developed West” by creating military zones and concentration camps, and murder thousands of immigrants and refugees at the military roadblocks, in the minefields of Evros and in the Mediterranean Sea.
- that impose harder and harder terms of exploitation and oppression inside the European Union, rendering immigrants the cheapest and most expendable workforce.
- that divide immigrants into “legal” and “illegal” ones, using therefore another means of efficiently controlling, terrorizing and subduing them.

The ironbound port of Patras, one of the most basic immigrant passages from Greece to Europe, is a junction spot to control and deter their movement.

Solidarity to Immigrants
For a World Without Papers, Borders, States, Nations, Exploitation

In the context of the 7th Panhellenic Coordination of Anarchists and Anti-Authoritarians for Solidarity to Immigrants and Refugees

Concert, Patras, Friday, May 18, 9 pm, Olga’s Square
Demonstration, Patras, Saturday, May 19, 11 am, Olga’s Square

Anarchist Groups and Comrades from Athens

The multi-lingual poster can be found here:
http://geocities.com/anar_gr2/gr/patra.htm