Greece arrests refugees protesting asylum procedures

28/12/2010

ATHENS, Greece -- About 100 refugees who were protesting the country's lengthy immigration procedures were removed from a make-shift camp in Athens they had occupied for several weeks and arrested by police Monday (December 27th). Authorities used limited force to break up the camp, which was set up near the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Some of the refugees climbed nearby trees to avoid arrest, while others grabbed their children and escaped to the centre of the city, blocking some main streets. All were eventually rounded up and brought to a police station. The immigrants, mainly from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Palestinian authorities, argue they are political refugees and seek asylum. (Kathimerini - 28/12/10; Ethnos, DPA, SKAI - 27/12/10)