Displaying items by tag: Greece

Gale-force winds tore through seaside communities close to Athens, fanning the flames which have left a trail of death and destruction. Coastguards saved 700+ people who fled to the sea during the night of 23/24 July. The region is popular with tourists, particularly pensioners and children at holiday camps. By 26 July the death toll from Greece’s forest fires had reached 83, expected to rise as rescuers search the disaster zone where dozens are still missing. ‘We all have pain’, sighed 67-year-old Maria who had lost her six-month-old grandson, two cousins, their children and all of her worldly possessions. Her daughter Margarita is fighting for her life. ‘My grandson hadn’t even been baptised. He died in Margarita’s arms, and now she is in intensive care.’ ‘God doesn’t give us the words to describe such things’, said one woman who survived the disaster because she was visiting doctors in Athens with her husband.

Greece’s parliament passed a bill on 15 May aimed at making asylum procedures simpler and faster and easing overcrowding in its refugee camps. Five camps on islands close to the Turkish coast hold more than double their capacity, and have been mired in violence over living conditions and delays in asylum claims that often take months to process. Human rights groups and the European Commission, which has offered Greece millions of euros in emergency aid, have criticised the government for not doing enough to manage the situation. Migration minister Dimitris Vitsas acknowledged that the bill ‘will not magically solve the refugee and migration issue’, but said the government wanted to reduce the wait for thousands of asylum seekers. Human rights groups criticised the bill, which foresees a shortened appeals procedure for rejected asylum seekers, saying it would lead to slapdash procedures violating refugees’ rights.

Two days before President Putin’s fourth inauguration, over a thousand people were detained after protests against his extended rule turned violent. Riot police barricaded protesters who then ran into adjoining streets, chanting, ‘Putin is a thief!’ and ‘He’s not my Tsar’. After lighting smoke bombs and throwing bricks, many were beaten bloody with batons in scenes reminiscent of 2012’s opposition movement. Many protesters held yellow duck symbols of ‘anti-corruption’. Pray for honest politics. See Over 2,500 Greeks protested against 2016’s EU/Turkey deal that left thousands of asylum-seekers stranded on Lesbos. When prime minister Alexis Tsipras arrived at Lesbos, protesters used loudspeakers to promote dissent and violence, and riot police fired teargas. See France’s May Day turned nasty when 1000+ ‘Black Bloc’ anarchists burnt cars and vandalised businesses, chanted anti-fascist slogans, threw firecrackers, and built barricades against police water cannons.

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party and the opposing Republican People's Party both agree that the Greek islands are Turkish territory and must be reconquered. Both parties in the past have openly threatened to invade the Aegean. In 2016 President Erdogan said, ‘Turkey has given away islands, a stone’s throw away, that were ours before’. To fulfill his mission of leaving a legacy surpassing that of all other Turkish leaders, Erdogan has specific goals: to create a nationalist cohesion, modify Turkish borders, and update the Lausanne Treaty by 2023. Also Turkish propagandists have distorted facts to present Greece as the aggressor. Ministry of defence officials say, ‘Greece has converted the islands it has occupied into military arsenals and outposts that Greece will use in future intervention against Turkey.’ Observers believe that since Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, the West should not take its current threats against Greece lightly. Pray for positive discussions over territorial waters, delimitations of airspace, and exclusive economic zones.

Christian Concern has intervened in a case at the European Court of Human Rights, which is set to rule whether sharia law should be applied to a dispute between Greek citizens who are Muslims. The ruling will determine whether sharia law can ever have supremacy over a country's domestic law. Mrs Molla Sali inherited the entire estate of her husband when he died, under the terms of a will that he had drawn up in accordance with Greek law. Two sisters of her husband are claiming that since he was a Muslim, the inheritance should be allocated according to sharia law, adjudicated by the mufti. A ruling at this level could have dire effects on the Council of Europe, including the UK. Christian Concern said it will highlight in court that sharia law is out of line with European law.

The number of unaccompanied child migrants living in ‘dirty’ Greek detention centres has increased ‘alarmingly’, said Human Rights Watch. 117 were in police cells or custody centres in Greece at the end of July, compared to just two last November. Under Greek law the authorities should separate vulnerable minors into safe accommodation, where they are appointed guardians who represent them in legal proceedings. However, when there’s no room in safe shelters the authorities lock them in dirty, crowded police cells and immigration detention facilities, sometimes with unrelated adults, instead of being cared for.

Mahmoud believed that all Christians lied and killed Muslims, but he embraced Christianity after experiencing the love and compassion of believers firsthand. He was forced to flee Iraq after IS invaded the country; the terrorists tortured him because he refused to support their ‘caliphate’. While travelling by dinghy to Greece his boat sank, plunging him into the sea, but Greek coastal authorities rescued him. Mahmoud was terrified: ’I knew they would kill me because I am a Muslim - this is what I had been told.’ But they pulled him from the water and gave him dry clothes and food. Eventually, Mahmoud was connected with a Christian ministry and they told him about Jesus. ‘For 40 years my people have lied to me’, he said with tears in his eyes. ‘I need to know the truth. I need to know about Jesus.’ He accepted Christ as his Lord and Saviour.