The following article was published in "Sunday Ethnos" newspaper in January 2010, written by Dionysia Layiou.
A ghetto without immigrants
Three years after they were moved from Votanikos, 550 Roma are still living under filthy conditions, next to garbage and rats, burning cables in order to make a living. Τhe serious social and cultural issue of the shack gypsies in Votanikos,( 5 minutes from the center of Athens), is being tackled by the state with threats and by bringing the Roma before the police. Around 550 Roma from Albania have been left in Orfeos street in Votanikos district, after the eviction of the same number of gypsies of the neighboring settlement of Polykarpou street in June 2007. Forgotten for years were the Roma settlements in Votanikos, until the state remembered them when they decided to utilize the broader area of Votanikos-Elaionas. 5 year old Maria takes her little dog Korina in her arms, with much love, since even in degraded conditions, a child's innocence remains alive.
The "motive"
Obstacle in the "double remodeling" were the Roma and with this opportunity, the authorities decided to clean up the place. The gypsies, following the recommendations of a private businessman and the states offices, left the land where they had been living for more than 10 years. As a "motive" the reward of 1000 Euro was used for each family, a sum that was paid by the private businessman who had interest in the area. At the same time it was made clear, as the Roma say, that:"either you take the money or you leave anyway"... Afterwards, the Roma made their settlement in an empty factory in Iera Odos street in Aegaleo district, from where they were thrown out by the owner and the police. Finally they scattered in the broader area of Kifisos and Elaionas. In that way the conditions in which both the Roma and the neighbors live worsened. At the same time the resentment of the civilians in Tauros, Renti, Aegaleo and Peristeri districts is overflowing, as car and bag thefts have increased very badly and the air smells of burning plastic. The dioxines are dancing in the air. The Gypsy miserable-devils are throwing cables in the fire to take back the copper. In fact, the scrap dealers of the area make up to 5000Euro per day from the Roma! This is the reason why the vice mayor of Tauros, Sotiris Andreou, is receiving threats and offensives very often. He is the only representative of the state that helps the Roma, even though they are not under the jurisdiction of the Tauros municipality. Namely, until today "unknown" people have burned two cars and broken another one, that belonged to the vice mayor. That is because he has given clear directions to the Roma that, if they continue to burn cables, they are going to be arrested immediately. So scrap deal is being ruined... "I'm doing whatever I can for the Roma and they have agreed to stop burning cables. I personally receive threats all the time, because I’m standing in the way of the interests of scrap business, I’m ruining their business.
A documentary. Their life is becoming a movie
The Roma place the first link in the chain of the international steel commerce, without them knowing it. Director Christos Karakepelis is dealing with this issue in his documentary and as he says:"In 2007 we were present when they were throwing out the Roma and we called the "Defender of the Civilian". The documentary is now being completed after 7 years of work. It is showing the fact that the proletarians are contributing, without knowing, to the globalised enrichment, while they themselves are living in poverty, experiencing social discrimination". Survival Problem "The police don't allow us to come out of the settlement". Nowadays the gypsies are facing a survival problem, as they are blocked by the police in their settlement. "The women are begging and many of the men are doing seasonal agricultural works, because we don't want any trouble with the police", explains in "Ethnos of Sunday" the 25 year old Argyris Lato from El Basan, who came to our country in 1988:"Back in Albania we have nothing, because we lost our home in the "pyramids". I have three children and I’m working as a guard in a neighboring warehouse but for 5 months the owner has been fooling me and hasn't paid me. How will we live? We have stopped burning cables but the police don't leave us in peace. Now we can’t even come out of the settlement, to do any work. They take us right to the police station. Whatever (bad) happens, they accuse us. Every year, me and my wife, we pay (for our stay in the country) 5.500Euro but the state hasn't given us anything. Our children go to school, thanks to the Taurus vice mayor, Mr.Andreou who has helped as a lot. He sent machines and cleaned up the area. He gives us food and does whatever he can and we thank him for that. Also, the Chinese merchants are helping us with clothes and vaccines for the children. The Greek state only sends the police to us. Last week two officers from the Minister of Foreign Affairs came and told us to leave. Where to ? we asked them. They told us they would try to find a field where we could go but they didn't promise anything..."
They have turned to the European court
Since 2007 sixteen Roma have turned to the "European Court of Human Rights", as they claim to have been forced to evacuate Votanikos. The appealers are represented in court by the "Greek Watch of the Helsinki Accords", while the case is monitored from the beginning by the "Defender of the Civilian". The case is expected to be tried by June 2010 at the latest and it is estimated that Greece's conviction is certain. Today the Gypsies don't dare to come out of their settlement as they get arrested. The arrests and prosecutions is the only measure taken by the Greek state, since for two decades the authorities have done absolutely nothing for their resettlement to an appropriate area with decent living conditions . It is noteworthy that the then law counselor of the mayor of Athens was declaring that " never has a crew of the municipality evicted Roma from their settlement. On the contrary, those days (June 2007) there was a cleaning of the settlement from debris and garbage. Since then, indeed, the municipality has been taking care and cleaning the settlement regularly, while in cooperation with the ministry of Health, systematic vaccination of children takes place ". As for the charges made by the "Greek Watch of Helsinki Accords", in order to stop the under way eviction of those days, the municipality has sent written explanations to the justice. Not only the Gypsies are burning in Votanikos... The scrap dealers are burning cables in barrels at night, while they put water around so that it evaporates and the smoke comes out white. The tanneries throw liquid waste in the fields ‘’enriched" with the carcinogenic weaked chromium. The transport companies are burning oil cloths in the nearby fields. The whole area smells of chemicals. Even worse, there’s other form of toxic waste in the area such as asbestos. The Roma are burning to make a living, since they live off these metals. The copper is their basic income and they sell it along with other used metallic objects in the old scrap yards. But the small manufacturers are profiteering on the expense of public health and the environment, since they refuse to pay in order to handle their waste. With the tolerance of the public servants, whose indifference is like turning a blind eye. Is it true that the prefecture and municipality have no idea of what has been going on in Votanikos for years? The situation in the minor district of Elaionas and Kifisos is out of control. The standard of living is miserable and the state is nowhere to be found, since its representatives are living in the suburbs... Dionysia Layiou.
