Galery

2

1

Hours after the occupation of one of the buildings of the Athens Law School by 237 illegal immigrants the competent ministers and state authorities began to shift the responsibility for solving the problem.

The government argued that it was determined to continue the strict line of law concerning the attribution of political asylum. However, there are concerns about causing a chain reaction and even clashes in downtown Athens with harsh police intervention.
 
Ministers do not take the case as a single one as they clearly see the large scale of the problem of illegal immigration. But this hard-line of the government is just words at least for now. For the first time ever ministers competed in their calls to the rector of the university yesterday to take the necessary steps to repeal the statute of asylum in this case.

Most of them hoped to make it clear to everyone that there was no possibility for legalization of illegal immigrants and that the occupation would end without police intervention. These hopes have collapsed after the last night's statement of the Prime Minister who asked the Minister for Citizen Protection to take all necessary measures and to identify those responsible for the occupation of the building of the Law School by the illegal immigrants.

At the same time, members of the government blame the Left wing for inciting the invasion. Representatives of the movement Forum of Immigrants led by the lawyer Joanna Kurtovik met with the competent Deputy Minister Anna Dallara late last night requesting the legalization of occupants. The answer received was that this would not happen.

"We will not allow the university to become a field of political strife," said the rector of the University of Athens Theodossis Pelegrinis and appealed the premises of the Law School to be left during the day with the assistance of the Ministry of Interior.

At a special press conference which was convened earlier this morning, the rector said that the occupation of the Law School was a misuse of university asylum, so a way should be found the immigrants to leave the premises and to be moved to another location to be considered their requests.

The rector of the Athens University stressed that the immigrants’ request to be granted refugee status was a matter of immigration policy and the government was obliged to solve it. He urged the Interior Minister Giannis Ragousis, the Deputy Minister of Labour Anna Dallara, the governor of Athens Giannis Sgouros and the Mayor of Athens George Kaminis to participate in a general meeting. According to the rector, the humanitarian side of the issue should be resolved at the meeting relating to the hunger strike of the 237 immigrants in Athens and the other 50 in Thessaloniki as well as the emptying of university facilities throughout the day.

Theodossis Pelegrinis said that the occupation was incited and blamed "all those who drew political dividends from what happened, and those who have "invested" in the cancellation of the university asylum".

University administration, however, disagrees with the actions of the police in order to empty the building of the Law School. The rector did not turn to the Minister for Citizens Protection Christos Papoutsis because of his yesterday statement that the police would intervene only if the prosecution asked for help. "Only the university administration is responsible for the protection of the university asylum. It has full responsibility and competence to deal with the situation in the Law Faculty," said Christos Papoutsis yesterday.

According to the deputy rector Theodoros Papateodorou, however, "The problem has been skillfully shifted to those who can not cope with it. Now, universities are turning to the state with a call to meet its obligations."

In connection with the rector’s invitation for meeting, associates of the Interior Minister said that the "Rector’s office should meet its legal obligations to guarantee the normal and proper functioning of the university. The Interior Minister explicitly said yesterday that no individuals or groups of people would be made legal in the future as they were not made legal in the past 15 months."

"Is it left policy to take advantage of the pain of poor illegal immigrants and encourage lawlessness by occupying any academic institution and breaking any notion of respect for the public interest?" asked the Prime Minister George Papandreou in his speech to the PASOK parliamentary group and added that the left wing and the progress was not lawlessness and that lawfulness and administration of law was not to do whatever you want to and bet on a society - a mess.

The prosecutor of the Supreme Court (Areopagus) Yoannis Tendes issued an order requesting to be informed of the events. At his meeting with the rector of the University of Athens the prosecutor of the Appeal Court will ask whether illegal activities were carried out in the premises of the Law School. If so, the prosecution will intervene and order the police to take actions for their suppression.

Meanwhile, the Initiative for solidarity with the immigrants on strike sent to the media a list with the names of 36 teachers in Greek and foreign universities supporting the activities of immigrants and joining their demand for unconditional legalization.