By Authors Many
The truth may be bitter, but it must be told
– Written on a wall of a detention centre in Lesvos
[The following is based on reports by many people and organizations in Greece.]
It has been around a year and a half now since the first attempt of the state to demolish the self-made Afghani refugee camp in Patras, which was prevented due to a vast and eminent solidarity movement. Nevertheless, the public authorities struck back and eventually succeeded to fulfil their initial plan on the dawn of Sunday 12th of July. This action can be only described as part of a major concrete plan of “zero tolerance” designed and declared by Markoyannakis, the Minister of Public Order of Greece.
The operation was initially planned to take place the night before, yet it was decided to postpone for a day in order for riot police reinforcements to arrive from Athens. At around 3.30 a.m. on Sunday numerous riot police forces swamped the whole area surrounding the refugee camp. By 5 a.m. they had already blocked every street leading to the camp inducing a climate of terror in the area. Only 150 immigrants were still there, by that point knowingly unable to defend themselves and their vestige shelter after weeks of continuous repression, arrests and terror deriving from the state. Some managed to flee the camp only moments before getting arrested and the rest were indulged to the hands of the authorities. The camp was unreachable for the protestors outside and the few who were already inside in solidarity got arrested and were released only after the operation was complete. The obvious reason for these arrests was to have no witnesses of the imminent villainous scenes of state-induced horror.
Immediately after the arrests and the removal of the immigrants on police buses, the demolition of the camp started before a huge fire erupted, burning any ruins of sheds and personal belongings. Nothing should be left to remind us that there used to be a refuge for thousands of immigrants and refugees throughout the years, desperate to seek survival and a dignified life in the European Fortress.
At the same time, at the other side of the port of Patras, another operation was taking place targeting mainly Somalian and Arab immigrants, which resulted to a horrific manhunt at the centre of Patras.
ZMag for more