Karim* stands outside what used to be his front door. Now it is bricked up and someone has drawn a menacing black padlock, taller than a man, on the grey breezeblocks.
When Karim arrived from Iraq less than a year ago, he was welcomed into the building, which gave him shelter and respite from what is sometimes a dangerous city for foreigners. As we speak, a Greek woman comes marching up the hill. She passes us, turns and shouts in English: “We don’t want them here.” And then, loudly and slowly, said to Karim: “We. Don’t. Want. You. Here.” She marches on.For decades, Exarchia has been the centre of the Greek anarchist movement and radical left, and is regularly the site of violent clashes between residents and police.
The ones that remain are on guard and understandably wary of outsiders. Down one side street, a four-storey office block is now home to more than 130 people. Just a couple of months ago, this building was petrol-bombed, and residents quelled the fires with extinguishers. “To be a refugee is a chronic condition,” says Vassilopoulou, although she adds that the experience is not always negative. “There is a loss through trauma, but also a gain ... we use a technique that is focusing on people’s resilience. We hear their difficult stories but we don’t stay there. Instead, we focus on the fact they have survived so much.”Francis* is four years old, and he is very excited — tomorrow is his first day of preprimary school.
What an eye-opener. I wanted to flee SA's violence for Greece but I don't have enough money & the more I researched, the more I found the same sort of message. Outsiders not welcome. The world has become a harsh place & each of us just want to protect our homeground & resources.
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