Press Release
Solidarity Initiative
with the 300 Migrants on Hunger Strike - Athens
As already publicly expressed during
yesterday's press conference (25.01.2011), we, the Initiative for Solidarity
with the 300 Migrants on Hunger Strike in Athens,
support the just and democratic struggle of the 300 migrants, undertaken on
their own initiative and without
intermediaries.
The struggle of the
300 migrants, who are currently using the unoccupied building of the Law
Faculty of Athens as a shelter, is the
struggle of 300 people who have been working for many years without any social
or labor rights. The historic building of the Law Faculty, which is presently
not being used for academic purposes and is undergoing renovation, is a place
that has hosted in the past major and fair social struggles. It is a place
which offers asylum to those fighting for justice and dignity; a place where
medical and legal support as well as civil protection is being provided to
those on strike.
The struggle of the
300 migrants on hunger strike is a just one and therefore must win. It is a
struggle in the name of all workers. We, the Initiative for Solidarity, demand
the full satisfaction of their requests; the immediate cessation of practices
which collectively delegalise migrants; the halt of outrageous deportation
procedures; an end to the extorting requirement of depending the renewal of
residence permits on the possession of social insurance stamps. We
demand equal political and social rights for all. The time has come to put an
end to the apartheid imposed on hundreds of thousands
people who live, move, work and raise their children in this country. The
destitution of one segment of society signals the upcoming destitution of the
rest. It is therefore that we cannot but express our solidarity with those on
hunger strike.
Regarding the insistence of the media and of political authorities to talk about manipulation of those on hunger strike, and in particular the statement of Mrs A. Diamantopoulou: "These unfortunate people did not find themselves in the Law School by chance, they were guided there"- we wish to stress that migrants are neither weak-minded nor can they be treated like objects; they are fighters who take responsibility for their lives in their own hands, an idea which xenophobes cannot easily accept.
Regarding the insistence of the media and of political authorities to talk about manipulation of those on hunger strike, and in particular the statement of Mrs A. Diamantopoulou: "These unfortunate people did not find themselves in the Law School by chance, they were guided there"- we wish to stress that migrants are neither weak-minded nor can they be treated like objects; they are fighters who take responsibility for their lives in their own hands, an idea which xenophobes cannot easily accept.
Regarding the media's
persistent focus on the location of the hunger strike instead of the substance
of the demands of this just struggle, namely a struggle against policies of
exclusion, division and deprivation of rights which affect all of us, we wish
to quote following passage:
“Gentlemen, you have the duty to deal with those few troublemakers, who are sitting on the staircases inside university yards and who exercise psychological abuse on the majority of the Greek students, thus not allowing them to enter the seminar rooms and attend their courses. If you think you need assistance, you should ask for it in written”.
Dictator G.
Papadopoulos, Speech before the Dean of the Senate, Greek Parliament, 2nd March 1973
Our solidarity with the migrants' struggle, is a struggle for the rights of all of us
UNCONDITIONAL
LEGALIZATION OF ALL MIGRANTS WOMEN AND MEN
EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL
WORKERS
Athens 26/1/2011
