Note by the Secretariat
The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on his visit to Greece from 4 to 8 May 2015, at the invitation of the Government. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur held meetings in Athens and the Attica region with representatives of the Government of Greece; the legislative and judicial branches; security forces; the Greek Ombudsman; the National Commission for Human Rights; United Nations entities, international organizations and non-governmental organizations; and community members and other groups and individuals working in the field of combating racism.
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur addresses the legal and institutional framework for combating racism, as well as different policies and initiatives undertaken against racism and xenophobia by the Government, the National Commission for Human Rights and civil society.
The Special Rapporteur then analyses the main challenges the country has faced in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, including issues related to the situation of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, as well as acts and expressions of racism and xenophobia from political parties and police forces.
The report concludes with recommendations to all relevant stakeholders.
I. Introduction
At the invitation of the Government, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance visited Greece from 4 to 8 May 2015.
The Special Rapporteur travelled to the capital city, Athens, as well as the neighbouring districts of Thrakomakedones and Spata in the Attica region. He met with representatives from the Government, at the national and regional levels; the legislative and judicial branches; and the security forces. He is particularly honoured to have met, despite their busy agendas, the Ministers of Health; Interior and Administrative Reconstruction; and Justice, Transparency and Human Rights, as well as the Alternate Minister for Migration.
In addition, the Special Rapporteur met with representatives of the National Commission for Human Rights, the Greek Ombudsperson, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, community members and other groups and individuals working in the field of racism, as well as migrant workers and asylum seekers.
The Special Rapporteur wishes to express his sincere gratitude to the Government for its cooperation and excellent coordination in the conduct of the visit. He is also grateful to the different state agencies for their cooperation. He is indebted to United Nations entities and his interlocutors from civil society for the excellent cooperation they extended to him throughout the visit. He hopes his conclusions and recommendations will contribute to finding concrete ways and means of addressing the challenges raised in the present report in an effective manner.