// Immigrants in Athens by Angelos Tzortzinis

A piece of iron bended outwards and a stone wall covered with graffiti in Arabic.
The entrance does not have either the glamour or space equal to the austerity of the building of a former Court of appeal. However, glamour is not what really matters in Socratous street, a short distance away from the famous Omonoia square where tourist walk around.
The court of appeal was moved in the beginning of the 80’s in the former luxury Hotel the Ambassador.
2001 the court was transferred to another building.
Nowadays, the building houses the dreams of 600 immigrants. The doors are sealed, the awful smell is intense and rubbish has filled every place in the building which has no water or electricity supplies. Only a few flickering candles slightly lighten the place. You can hear some broken Greek, but the dominant language is French, espacially in the situation when the immigrants has to defend the building and themself against the attacks of the greek fascist organisation which have the aim to evacuate them illegally.
The majority of the immigrants come from Morocco, Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. Some of them, though they have legal papers, cannot find a job while others are struggling with bureaucracy without any result.
Mohamet is an example: “ I reached Greece through Turkey, I paid 3,000 euros to the smuggler and I passed from Izmir to Samos in an inflated boat. I want to go to Patras and then to Italy. In Irak I was a barber, but after the war everything was destroyed”.
In mid-August without any warning, massive police forces intruded in the old Court of appeal and proceeded to arrests evacuating the building. Now the Court of appeal is guarded by special police forces.
The destiny of the immigrants is convenient since they are used as cheap working hands. They are annoying when they claim for human or political rights. They are looking for a better future, caught between hostile greek nationalists and temporary friendly politicians.