A group of 287 illegal immigrants in Athens yesterday began an indefinite hunger strike to urge the Greek authorities to grant residence permits and work half a million illegal aliens in the country. "This is the most massive hunger strike in order to legalize immigrants who have been held in Europe," said Nikos Yanópulos, spokesperson of the Solidarity Committee, which supports immigrants.
"Either we win or die," said Mustafa, 25, who lives and works as a plumber without papers on the island of Crete for eight years. The strikers, all men, calling for the legalization of the 300,000 immigrants without documents, of the 160,000 who have not renewed their licenses and another 60,000 waiting for the authorities to process applications for political asylum, a process that some cases take up to a decade.
However, the Interior Ministry, responsible for immigration policy, said yesterday in a statement that "there is no possibility of a mass legalization of immigrants." Greece has decided to build a fence of 12.5 kilometers in length along its border with Turkey to stop the arrival of illegal immigrants while receiving European aid to its immigration policy.
"Either we win or die," said Mustafa, 25, who lives and works as a plumber without papers on the island of Crete for eight years. The strikers, all men, calling for the legalization of the 300,000 immigrants without documents, of the 160,000 who have not renewed their licenses and another 60,000 waiting for the authorities to process applications for political asylum, a process that some cases take up to a decade.
However, the Interior Ministry, responsible for immigration policy, said yesterday in a statement that "there is no possibility of a mass legalization of immigrants." Greece has decided to build a fence of 12.5 kilometers in length along its border with Turkey to stop the arrival of illegal immigrants while receiving European aid to its immigration policy.
No comments:
Post a Comment