Andriani Fili on the Treatment of Irregular Migrants in Greece

Post by Andriani Fili, a sociologist at Medical Intervention and research associate at the Universities of Oxford and Monash, reporting from Greece.

"A recently released online documentary, Into Hidden Fire: The Hidden Victims of Austerity in Greece, paints an accurate portrayal of the desperate situation facing asylum seekers and economic migrants in Greece.  Human rights organisations routinely castigate Greece for their treatment of irregular migrants on the streets and in detention centres, at the same time as European Union member states demand the enforcement of ever-tighter border control. Migrants considered irregular are forced to register with the police and may be arrested at any time.  Detention centres are overflowing, with new ones opening regularly.  Outside, irregular migrants sleep in crowded, substandard apartments or in parks, city centres and other insecure locales where they are vulnerable to growing numbers of racist attacks. This moving documentary reveals some of their stories."

See also Andriani's account of the Athen's Airport detention: The maze of immigration detention in Greece: A case study of the Athens airport detention facility’. Published in 2013 in the Prison Service Journal: Special Issue on Migration, Nationality and Detention. Issue 205: 34-38.