Greece: wildfires rage on three islands and mainland

Firefighters in Greece were struggling to contain 82 wildfires across the country, 64 of which started on Sunday, the hottest day of the summer so far. As well as huge blazes on the island of Rhodes, which forced 19,000 people to flee, wildfires also broke out on the island of Corfu and in the northern Peloponnese region, triggering further evacuations

 

Rhodes: Holidaymakers describe wildfires ordeal

 

Thousands of people have been evacuated from wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes.

Tourists have fled from their hotels to emergency shelters, while some holidaymakers returning to the UK described people being covered in ash and still smelling of smoke from the fires.

Shipwreck in the Mediterranean: Many questions remain unanswered

Last week saw the worst shipwreck in the Mediterranean this year, with some accounts saying as many as 750 people were crammed onto the small boat which sank off the coast of Greece. Nine men have been charged over the wreck, which has had a tragic human cost.

Refugees risk violence and death on Europe’s Balkan route

 

Greek border police say the numbers of migrants and refugees trying to leave Turkey is on the rise. Many are Syrians who feel increasingly unsafe in Turkey. They travel in small groups, and are risking ever more dangerous routes.

What’s triggered the latest tension between Greece and Turkey?

Ankara accuses Athens of breaching an agreement on the Agean sea.

Greece and Turkey have been in conflict over maritime borders and energy exploration rights for decades.

In the latest escalation, Ankara has accused Athens of deploying US armoured vehicles on two Aegean islands close to Turkey’s coast. 

Greece: Residents flee as wildfires approach

 

Thousands of residents fled a wildfire north of Athens early Friday as Greece's government warned of tough days ahead.

The Shameful Camp

 

Investigating the shocking living conditions at a Greek island camp for refugees trying to get into Europe.

At its closest point, the Greek island of Samos lies barely two kilometres off the coast of Turkey, which has long made it a target destination for refugees and migrants seeking to enter Europe.

Those who make it across the Aegean Sea are housed in and around a camp close to the capital Vathy. Some have been there for years, waiting for their paperwork to be processed through the tortuously slow Greek bureaucracy.

Abandoned After the Olympics: Greece's $11 Billion Mistake

 As is usually the case, the reality is more complicated than the narrative.

Lesbos: Who started the fire at Europe’s largest refugee camp?

 

On 8 September 2020, the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos went up in flames.

Are EU countries using COVID-19 to clamp down on refugees?

Italy and Greece accused of being more hostile to migrants during the pandemic.

Italy and Greece have long complained of being overwhelmed by undocumented migrants desperate to get into Europe.

The European Union members are the main landing points for refugees and asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa and the Middle East.

Rights groups say the coronavirus pandemic has given both countries a chance to crack down on the unwanted visitors.

Greek police have been accused of beating up migrants and illegally deporting them back to Turkey. Reports that Greek security forces physically assaulted migrants emerged earlier this year, when thousands gathered in border areas after Turkey encouraged them to travel to Europe. But now DW and other investigative reporters have been able to confirm some stories of abuse and illegal deportations after tracking down victims in Turkey. They allege Greek police arrested them without a warrant and forced them on to boats back to Turkey.

Coronavirus leaves refugee children stranded in Greek camps | DW News

In early March, a number of EU countries promised to take in at least 16 hundred migrant children from camps on Greek islands, including Moria on Lesbos. The coronavirus pandemic delayed implementation of the program, but now Germany and Luxembourg have flown out the first groups of 70 unaccompanied minors. Children’s rights organizations say that's nowhere near enough because thousands of other youngsters, many of whom desperately need help, are being left behind.

Western Thrace, Contested Space: The Turks of northeast Greece

We investigate claims of discrimination against the ethnic Turkish minority in the Greek province of Western Thrace.

"The main problem here is denial of our identity. We define ourselves as Turkish, which we undoubtedly are. However, the Greek state doesn't accept this fact. They talk about Greek Muslims, a definition we will never accept."

Cidgem Asafoglu told me this in her office in the heart of Komotini, the capital of Greece's Rhodope prefecture. It sits in an ancient region known as Thrace, which shares borders with southern Bulgaria and western Turkey. Cidgem is the leader of Keif, the Party of Friendship Peace and Equality

Engineering Connections Earthquake Proof Bridge

Richard Hammond reveals how engineers made one of the longest bridges in the world earthquake-proof - . Building a structure almost 3 kilometres long in water 65 metres deep was almost the least of the engineering challenges of bridging the Gulf of Corinth in Greece. The construction would cross one of the most active seismic fault lines in Europe. Defying disaster called for solutions inspired by fragrant Indian incense, the ring-pull in a soda can, a toboggan, a hammock, and some shiny steel chimneys.

Investigating the numerous failures that led to the worst fire in the Mediterranean country's modern history.

Like many countries around the Mediterranean, Greece suffers from dangerous summer wildfires, but the one that tore along its Attica coast in July 2018 was the worst in the country’s history - claiming 99 lives and leaving thousands of others injured, traumatised and homeless.

"I don't know who to be angry with - angry with God? Angry with people? Angry with myself?" says firefighter Andreas Dimitriou. While he fought to protect others, his wife and baby son were killed by the inferno at home.

Elsewhere, 100kph winds enveloped the gridlocked roads of Mati, a popular resort at the heart of the disaster, catching day trippers in their cars and residents in their homes and defeating the efforts of the emergency services battling the blaze with elderly vehicles, redundant equipment and self-bought uniforms.

Undocumented & Under Attack: Pakistani Migrant Workers

With anti-migrant violence on the rise, Pakistani migrants in Greece stand up to neo-Nazis and demand their rights.

Across Europe, the far-right is on the rise and it has some of the continent's most diverse communities in its crosshairs.

To the far-right, these neighbourhoods are "no-go zones" that challenge their notion of what it means to be European.

To those who live in them, they are Europe. These are their stories.

It is March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and Javied Aslam is preparing for the day ahead.

Golden Dawn Girls: What Happened to Greece?

Meet the wives, mothers and daughters behind Greece's notorious right-wing Golden Dawn party.

In recent years, Greece's image as a country of sunny beaches and friendly people has been overshadowed by political ideologies that are terrifyingly close to Nazism.

So what has happened to Greece? How did the country come to vote members of the far-right Golden Dawn party into parliament?

Golden Dawn Girls looks at the party's rise to power, using archive footage of their rallies, clashes with police, and attacks on immigrants.

When prominent Golden Dawn members are imprisoned and charged with operating a criminal organisation, their daughters, wives and mothers step up and continue to propagate its message.

Refugees: Between worlds in Israel, Turkey and Greece

Short docs about an Eritrean boarding school in Israel, refugee children in Turkey and a hotel-turned-squat in Greece.

The Boys of Nitzana

Amar escaped repression in Eritrea as a teenager in order to find a better life.

A gruelling journey led him to a small school for undocumented migrants in Israel, known as Nitzana.

While the school welcomed Amar warmly, Israeli policy does not. 

The Longest Run: Refugee Teens in Jail (Video)

How teenage refugees from Syria and Iraq end up in Greek prisons, accused of trafficking illegal immigrants into Europe.

Two young boys, Alsaleh from Kobane in Syria and Jasim, a Yazidi from northern Iraq, spend their long days in a juvenile prison in Greece, accused of smuggling illegal immigrants while their families are living in war zones.

With unique access to the juvenile prison and courtroom, The Longest Run unravels the stories of these youngsters by exposing a phenomenon in the illegal immigration network which has taken on alarming proportions: Professional traffickers force underage migrants to transport people across the border from Turkey to Greece or from Greece to Europe and turn them into smugglers themselves.

Jasim, the Iraqi boy, was in a boat with seven people, and Alsaleh was trying to leave Greece in a truck with 40 people. During their time in custody, they realise that the court can sentence them to life imprisonment.

Greece Gets Screwed By EU (Germany)

After Greece held a referendum on the last bailout package presented by the E.U. which delivered a resounding no to getting completely screwed by the Troika.    Germany (Angela Merkel) decided that Greece should be punished for their intransigence.  You know: Not wanting the unemployment rate to rise above the current 25% for the overall working population and above 50% for those under 25, didn't feel the need for a depression, a collapse of the Greek government and selling off all its public holdings. Like water, electricity, health care  and the harbours and airports.

Germany's hardline stance is an all out effort to cause a change of government in Athens.  A coup.

After a marathon 15 hours of talks the Belgium prime minister tweeted the word: "Agreement"

 Here are the latest updates:

• Belgium Prime Minister tweets 'agreement' after mammoth, all-night summit
   
• European Commissioner promises 'there is a way out'... but economists say Grexit likely
   
•  Athens blinks first as Alexis Tsipras promises to 'immediately implement' reforms
   
• Will Greek troubles spill over to the rest of Europe and UK?
   
• The Greece debt crisis explained in less than 100 words
   
• Will Greek troubles spill over to the rest of Europe and UK?
   
• Greece travel advice Q&A: Tourists urged to bring cash not cards on holiday
   
• What are capital controls and how do they work?

Joseph Cotterill, an FT correspondent, has a good graph showing the amount of money the IMF thinks it can raise from privatisation now, in blue, and in the past. 

 

Joseph Cotterill

@jsphctrl

How past (IMF) predictions for Greek privatisation proceeds turned out. (From the latest DSA) http://t.co/R11AdWbsgp