A Hellenic Hell for Refugees

Social restrictions and political pressure, economic woes, unemployment, the harrasment and arrest of adolescents and young adults for failing to observe Islamic regulations, family obligations, uncertainty about Iran's future, a sense of insecurity, and lack of hope for a better tomorrow ...

These are some of the reasons that have prompted a large number of Iran's educated and young, and journalists and political activists, to leave their country in recent years—especially after last year's controversial presidential election—and to seek asylum in the United States and European countries in hopes of a better life. 

A majority of Iranian refugees by necessity choose Iraq, Turkey and Greece--countries that are more easily accessible for illegal crossing of ground and water borders--in order to get themselves to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in these countries and begin the long, difficult process of receiving asylum in the US or Europe. 

Most asylum-seekers pass through Turkish soil to reach Greece, preferring this country as a gateway from which to apply to European countries such as France, Germany, Sweden and Norway. Contrary to their expectations, however, many refugees encounter a host of problems in these transit countries upon their arrival. 

On July 4, 2010 a group of Iranian asylum-seekers staged a hunger strike in front of the UNHCR office in Athens in protest to their treatment by Greek police and the unknown status of their cases. They started the hunger strike after meeting with the Greek deputy interior minister, who told them that his country was unable to accept them as refugees.

Vahid Farshbaf and Hamid Sadeghi are two Iranian refugees who have been on hunger strike since July 24 in protest to receiving no answers on their unresolved status from Greece's interior ministry and police officals.

Farshbaf, 46, who has been in Greece for eight years now, and Sadeghi, 35, have sewn their lips shut to as a sign of protest to their plight. Greek officials have not appeared sympathetic to these refugees' request for attention to their cases.

Problems that asylum-seekers from Iran and other countries face in Greece include rejection of their applications for a lack of valid documents, arbitrary arrests and police violence in prisons, and humiliation and harassment in the streets by security forces and Greek nationalist groups. The name of this country thus evokes bitter and painful memories for many of the refugees who have spent time there waiting to be granted asylum by European countries or the U.S.

Greek police and security forces tend to treat immigrants harshly. Dozens of refugees endure verbal abuse and physical assault, or are ruthlessly beaten, in Greek prisons every day. The dangers of drowning at sea or of being suspended under a cargo truck to cross the border into Europe adds to the bitterness of immigrants' memories of their refugee days in Greece.    

Hassan Talebi, a former student activist who left Iran under pressure and threats by Islamic Republic security agencies, says of his stay in Greece: "Like many others driven from their country, I arrived in Turkey in January 2007. As a result of the Turkish government's equivocal position toward refugees—to the point that some are handed over to Iranian authorities—I left Turkey for Greece, to be able to live safely in an EU member state. But the kinds of things that happen to Iranian refugees is unimaginable and an affront to the most basic rights of asylum-seekers. For example, right from the start, without any interview or hearing, Greek police keep refugees in tents under temporary detention for long periods, ranging from three months to a year. During this time the detained refugees are deprived of the most rudimentary biological needs, including sunlight, and are kept in dire sanitary and dietary conditions. The refugees are also denied the right to legal representation, and are constantly beaten by Greek police officers."

It should be mentioned that some human rights institutions have accused Greece's coast guard of routine efforts to sink boats carrying refugees trying to illegally land on Greek shores.

A report published by Proazil, a group that supports refugees, stated that Greek coast guard boats perform dangerous maneuvers that generate large waves capable of capsizing small passenger boats. The report also notes other practices, such as forcing these boats out of Greek waters, or making holes in them. According to reports by official sources in 2010, 44 people have drowned and 54 people have been listed as missing.

The process of attending to the state of refugees in Greece is decidedly lamentable. The asylum-seekers must wait for months in long lines to request an interview, and live in the fear of being arbitrarily detained by Greek police just so that they can roll the dice to get an interview to apply for asylum. Those who succeed in presenting their request endure unfavorable conditions for housing, food, clothes and healthcare during the long, tortuous wait to be granted asylum.

Talebi also spoke about the process in Greece for attending to refugees' cases: "Greek politicans and police are unfamiliar with the terminology for filing applications for asylum. Greece's government does not differentiate between political refugees and other refugees. Many refugees are forced to sign letters they are unable to read, without having a translator available; these letters for voluntary deportation are often used against the refugee. Meanwhile, refugees who manage to register their application for asylum must wait in Greece for years to get a green card, without being granted refugees rights such as shelter and financial and medical aid.” 

This is while the Greek government responds to criticism from international human rights organizations by saying that most of these people are not refugees but ordinary immigrants from impoverished countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, who come to Europe looking for work and a better life. But the difficult living conditions for refugees in Greece are apparent, and reports of continued hunger strikes by Iranian refugees--particularly Hamid Sadeghi, who has sealed his lips shut in a symbolic gesture of protest since July 24, 2010 and heartrending photos of his sealed lips have been published across the world.

Human rights organizations and advocacy groups for refugee rights, including the International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR), have called on these refugees to end their hunger strikes and avoid further damage to their health. In particular, they have asked Hamid Sadeghi to un-seal his lips and to continue his struggle with less arduous methods. The protesting refugees have not yet complied with this request, and have stated that they will continue their protest until the Greek government pays attention to their cases.

Hamid Nozari, director of the Berlin-based Society for Iranian Political Refugees, said in an interview with Deutsche-Welle that the problem is in part due to a lack of necessary bureaucratic cooperation and a failure to observe regulations by Greece.

Nozari says, "In recent months, Greece has become a place of refuge for Iranians or Afghans who flee their countries." The problems faced by Iranian refugees stem from the Greek government's lack of the minimum infrastructure for hosting refugees that meets EU standards and provides basic human rights. Greece does have asylum laws, but the protocol for interviewing and processing the refugees' cases is not observed. Nothing is done to provide for the basic needs of refugees, like food, shelter and other minimum expenses."

In a recent statement about the state of refugees in Greece, Amnesty International noted the maltreatment of refugees by Greek police officials. Additionally, the Amnesty statement cites a directive issued by the Greek government last year barring refugees from the right to appeal their cases.

As Farshbaf and Sadeghi's hunger strike in front of the UNHCR building in Athens enters its almost a month , it continues to draw reactions from human rights advocacy groups. In a statement on its Web site, the UNHCR itself has also stated its support for these asylum-seekers' rightful request. Greek officials, however, have yet to react to these statements and continue to refrain from addressing the asylum-seekers' concerns about the status of their applications for asylum.