BY GEORGES MEHRABIAN
ATHENS, Greece - "I have been in this country for 14 months already and as of yet nothing has been clarified by the Greek state as to the status of hundreds of us here," said Karwan Rafiq Mustafa, a leader of the elected Camp Committee of Palia Pendeli, in an interview with the Militant in early August. "Since June we have been brought here by the Greek government and put in two camps: Camp A, with 150 people, and Camp B, with 600 people. Camp A is run by Medecins du Monde [Doctors of the World] and has running water, electricity, toilets and food. But Camp B, which is not run by the Medecins du Monde, has none of these."

A walk through the camp quickly shows the dismal conditions. The Kurdish refugees from Iraq have been assigned this location by the Greek government. They are provided with tents that are rotting through, sleeping 10 to a tent. There is no concrete flooring. With the first rains the tents will turn to sieves and the floors into thick mud. A camp resident walks through pushing a wheelbarrow full of canned milk from tent to tent. Every two or three days each person may get a small can as their ration. The milk is donated by private individuals and some human rights organizations. These conditions stand in stark contrast to the million dollar villas dotting the surrounding posh neighborhood.

"Those of us in Camp B have problems due to vitamin deficiencies," said another resident, who wished to remain anonymous. "There is no work. We go out to the main square of the town here every morning waiting for bosses to drive by and pick some of us up for day labor. We are forced to compete with Albanian immigrants on the square. They will work for only 3,000 drachmas a day (about $10), and there have been instances of scuffles between us and them. Those of us that do work have problems getting paid," said Mustafa. "Right now eight refugees are owed $2,500 in back wages, which the bosses refuse to pay because they know those workers have no papers. In fact at this time only 30 percent of us have valid temporary residence permits.

"Even though we are refugees fleeing Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, the Greek government is putting up all sorts of obstacles to prevent us from applying for political asylum," continued Mustafa. He explaining that almost a year and a half after Iraqi Kurds first occupied a square in central Athens "only 250 have been allowed to apply. None of us have gotten a response. And new refugees keep fleeing.

"We have already taken to the streets of Athens three times in demonstrations of hundreds demanding our right to political asylum and to being given the means to live as human beings," he added.

After finishing the tour of Camp B, Mustafa walked to a barbed wire fence. "This is the Berlin Wall separating the two camps."

In Camp A Sardesht Charezuri, who has been there less than two weeks, said, "Fifty of us were brought here a few days ago. We were rescued out at sea by the Greek navy. The Ukrainian cargo boat we were on had broken down and we were adrift for 88 hours. Due to the presence of women and children and the coverage by the press, they were pressured to tow the boat to the coast and we were given food, water, and medicine.

"There were 300 of us on the death ship," continued Charezuri. "We all boarded in Turkey and were from Guinea, Rwanda, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq. The Iraqis were Arab, Kurd, and Turkoman. There were also Arabs from Turkey fleeing. Once in Greece they separated us according to nationality. The Kurds from Iraq were brought here.

"We paid $2,500 each for the trip, which was supposed to take us to Italy. We were promised food and water on board but there was none, so we had to buy it." Charezuri said there were many tragedies, and pointed to a young girl named Vania. "Her mother and sister were separated from her while we were all boarding due to a Turkish police action," he explained. "We don't know where they are now - I have taken her under my care.

"I am from Hallabjah, the place where thousands were massacred by Saddam's chemical bombs," said Charezuri. "Conditions in Iraq are impossible due to the war against Iran and then the Gulf War with the United States. Life for all Iraqis is difficult, but especially for the Kurds. And now there is the Kurdish civil war on top of the intervention of the countries in the area.

"Now they are blocking the implementation of [United Nations] Security Council Resolution 986," he said referring to the "oil for food" resolution by the UN Security Council. "But it is not Saddam who is paying. It is the Iraqi people, all of them, who are paying. Why deny us food? [Former U.S. president George] Bush encouraged us to rebel and then he allowed Saddam to crush us - Why?" Resolution 986 allows Baghdad to sell limited quantities of oil, with two-thirds of the proceeds earmarked for supplies to relieve those suffering from the UN embargo against Iraq, and the remainder to pay reparations from the Gulf War.

"I sold my house and everything in it," said Charezuri. "The only way to flee is through Turkey. You can get a visa to Turkey through the Turkoman Front for $600. Then you get on a boat or walk across the border to Greece. There are now 50,000 Iraqis in Istanbul." The group from the Ukrainian ship has not yet been allowed to apply for political asylum.

Georges Mehrabian is a chemical worker in Athens, Greece.  
 
 
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