BY GEORGES MEHRABIAN
ATHENS - Six hundred people rallied at the Polytechnic University here March 30 to demand immediate legalization of all immigrants and refugees, an end to deportations, and equal rights for Greek and foreign-born workers. The event, the first of its kind in Athens, was sponsored by dozens of immigrant rights, antiracist, and other groups. About two-thirds of the participants were immigrants from the Philippines, Yugoslavia, and several African and Arab nations, as well as Turkish, Kurdish, and Polish workers.
"There are now more than 500,000 immigrants living in Greece," explained Ianna Kourtovik, a prominent immigrant rights lawyer who chaired the meeting. "They represent 10 percent of the labor force. But the government has only issued 25,000 work permits."
Most work permits are tied to a specific employer. A new "amnesty" bill proposed by the ruling social-democratic party, PASOK, would maintain this setup. The officialdom of the General Confederation of Greek Workers backs this legislation, but many immigrant rights organizations have spoken out against it.
"We demand that everyone be legalized now and that they all have access to the social benefits and rights that Greeks have," said Kourtovik.
Hussein Bebrek, a Turkish political refugee and leader of the ad hoc coalition that organized the event, explained, "This is the first time in Greece that so many foreigners have united for their rights." He added, "Immigrants are under attack everywhere today -
in the United States they want to build a 3,000-kilometer wall. But we are not the cause of unemployment. We don't close factories; we don't exploit social benefits."
Samsideen Iddrisu, president of the Pan-African Association of Greece, said, "It's the economic relations imposed on us by the rich countries that force us to leave to find work. Then in the host countries we become scapegoats for unemployment. It's only through the legalization of all that the road will be opened for brotherhood between Greek and foreigner." He noted that the proposed amnesty law would exclude Albanians, who are almost half the immigrants living in Greece.
Anna Bell, a garment worker and member of the Garment Workers Union, spoke on behalf of dozens of organized Filipino workers from the now-closed Alexander Fashion. "We came to the point where we understood that we Filipinos and the Greek workers in the factory faced the same exploiter. We began talking to the Greeks, we began to cooperate, we began slowdowns and other actions. We slowly united in struggle and organized the union."
Alexander Fashion moved its operations to Bulgaria and fired the workers here. The Filipinos faced immediate deportation. After a sit-down protest last July, they won a stay, but their fight against deportation continues. About 30 Filipino garment workers participated in the rally.