"Illegal immigrants should return to their homeland"

The Mayor of Athens George Kaminis attended the Parliamentary Environmental committee on Tuesday, and spoke on every pressing affair. He put particular emphasis on the “misery” of Athens and the insecurity of its citizens, with whole neighborhoods within the city becoming ghettos. “Entire neighborhoods have become inaccessible”, he said. “Residents and traders are fleeing. The composition of the city is changing rapidly. There is a widespread feeling of insecurity. If you do not give people a sense of security, we cannot do anything meaningful”.

Although he noted that the municipality’s finances are in a bad state, he stated that for areas now considered inaccessible, “we are promoting agreements with lighting companies so that plazas have proper lighting, since the municipality’s debts leave little wiggle room for contract renewals”, while he added that police presence will become more frequent.

Meanwhile, the mayor said that there is a need to revitalize the city center, to return residents to the central areas in order to prevent ghetto formation. He suggested that all nine recently closed hotels in central Athens become student halls of residence and that overrun public spaces are taken back. He also noted that since the first day of his term in office, he has not “erased” any illegal parking tickets, while he also presented the problem of chairs and tables occupying the sidewalks.

In addition, the mayor of Athens introduced financial incentives for residents of the city center. Specifically, “the destitute, the disabled, single-parent families and large families that will meet certain income criteria will be exempted from municipal taxes, while companies choosing to locate themselves in the center will also avoid taxation. Furthermore, Mr. Kaminis stated that “the city should establish a housing program in order to take advantage of buildings, or even buy them and give them to young couples with financial aid in terms of rent”, adding that the city center contains no public buildings. He also said that the city of Athens will implement the “Clarity” program by posting all its decisions on the internet.

On the immigrant issue, Mr. Kaminis highlighted the need for registration of all immigrants within the city center and the deportation of illegals. “Our policy on immigration should be aimed at social inclusion and integration, combating illegal immigration and management of the illegal immigrant phenomenon. This populace must emerge from obscurity to be registered and arranged. All illegal immigrants should return to their homelands" Moreover, he referred to the events of the Law School building occupation, saying that he refused to provide a building on that night since “it would be like the municipality giving them legal cover and creating precedent”.

“This misery must end”, he also said, referring to the Roma immigrant settlement and the Botanical Garden immigrants. “They need to relocate, but the municipality cannot do it alone”. “We will defend everyone’s rights. Kipseli and Koliatsou, are in danger of becoming small 'Aghios Panteleimon' ghettos, he said.