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Two Pakistanis – a father and a son were killed and three others of their countrymen were injured during clashes with Roma at the dump in the Athens suburb of Philly.

According to the Vima newspaper, the men went to the dump to collect materials, mostly scrap, for recycling. Then the Roma living in a camp near the dump told them to go away and threatened them with rifles.

Some of the Roma did not hesitate to use their weapons against the Pakistanis in the quarrel that followed. A man aged 40-45 years and his 20-year-old son were shot on the spot and three men were wounded by the rifles of the Roma who escaped immediately. A little later a group of Pakistanis went to the camp and in revenge set fire to the barracks where the Roma live.  

According to another version published in the Ta Nea newspaper, the Pakistanis collected iron at the expense of the Roma and went to the camp to get their salaries. Instead, one of the Roma - employers not only refused to pay them, but threatened them with his rifle. When the Pakistanis refused to go he began to shoot against them and killed the father and the son. Other family members escaped but returned later with a number of their compatriots to get even with the Roma.

The police say that the recent brawls between Pakistanis and Roma have become more frequent. The "locals" are irritated by the presence of foreigners at the dump which they consider "inaccessible" and want to control it. The police believe that the dispute between the Pakistanis and the Roma will continue.

At the same time, the waste issue of Athens is widening. The landfill in Ano Liosia is expected to close in the coming days because it is overfilled. This means that the Greek capital is likely to celebrate Easter amongst tons of waste which will stand on the streets.

The residents of Keratea, that continue to resist violently the construction of a new landfill, held their Woodstock. Tens of singers went on stage during the 3-day music festival, which was attended by the famous composer Mikis Theodorakis. He described Keratea as a "symbol of the fight." "The will of the people rises above anything," said in turn the symbol of the Greek Left Manolis Glezos. The dynamic actions of the inhabitants of Keratea against the government plans to build a new landfill in the region have become an example and a symbol for all social movements that oppose the overall policy of the government. The Minister of Citizens Protection Christos Papoutsis said that the Keratea issue is not of police nature and invited the competent Ministry of the Interior to take its responsibility to resolve it.

According to the European Commission, Greece is still far behind on waste management and it will take many years to apply an effective system. However, the European Commissioner for Environment Janez Potocnik believes that the country has done a lot on the closure of illegal landfills that are 42 in number only in the region of Athens. Until now, the Greek authorities have managed to close 141 of the total 249 illegal dumps that operated in November 2010.

"Hygienic burial in Greece should necessarily be reduced and recycling in a separate removal and separation of waste from the source should be increased. This should be perceived as an opportunity because it can create jobs across the country," said the EU Commissioner.